Once upon a Dream
by Alice2795
Summary: They say, for every princess, there's always a knight in shiny armor to protect her or a prince that will always love her. The princess always have a happy ending. But then, what about me? What am I? Am I a princess? Can I ever dream of becoming one? A/N: Tomo x Ryuji fanfic.
1. Prologue

**HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own B Project.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1, Prologue**

It was eight o' clock at night; the time when shady people begun to come out enjoy themselves, blending in with normal citizens. Tomohisa shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he glanced outside of the moving vehicle.

"Young master, are you not feeling well?" asked the driver from the front seat. "We could turn back if you want to."

The silver-haired young man shook his head and smiled. "No, it's ok. I'm just feeling a bit nervous since this is my first time attending this kind of event." He said, scratching his cheek sheepishly.

The driver chuckled. "You don't need to worry, young master. I heard that your friends will also be there so I'm sure you'll be fine."

Tomohisa sighed and straightened his neck tie. "I do hope so." As he continued to get himself to relax, the ride came to a stop when the vehicle pulled over in front of a large grand building.

"We're here, young master. You can give me a call when you feel like leaving, sir. I'll be waiting right here." The driver told the young man as he watched Tomohisa getting out of the car.

Tomohisa nodded. "I'll be going then. Thanks for driving me here." He waved his hand at the driver before he turned to leave, entering the large building. As soon as he walked into the building, he was stopped by two men wearing black suits and black sunglasses.

"Excuse me, sir. Are you here to attend the auction holding for tonight?" One of the men asked.

Tomohisa stood still, confused and dumbfounded by the sudden approach. But, quickly shrugged it off when he caught up by the question. "Yes, I am. Here's the invitation." He said calmly, pulling out a black envelope from his pocket and showed it to the men.

The two men stared at each other and nodded. They then apologized for suddenly stopping him and told Tomohisa where the auction was being held, giving detailed direction. Tomohisa thanked them and walked away, heading to where he was told to. He entered the elevator and went up to the highest floor of the building.

The elevator let out a 'ding' when it reached the destination. Tomohisa stepped out once the door slide opened. He glanced around and spotted a large grand door on his left side with two men wearing black suits, guarding on either side of the door. Tomohisa gulped nervously before making his way towards the door.

"Your invitation, please." said one of the men. Tomohisa took out the envelope and handed it to him. The man took the envelope and opened it to check.

Tomohisa sweat dropped. 'Their security sure is tight here…'

The man looked up and nodded at his companion before opening the door. "You can enter now, sir. Before you reach the main hall, our staffs will provide you with a mask to protect your identity."

Tomohisa raised a brow. 'Protect? Identity?'

"We hope you will enjoy the night, sir."

The silver-haired man tensed and nodded before entering the room. As soon as he was inside, the door was immediately closed. Tomohisa walked through the long corridor and he spotted two more men in front of a black curtain. 'Not again…'

When the men saw him, they gestured him to come closer, and he did so. One of the men then took a white mask from the box that his companion was holding and gave it to Tomohisa.

"Wear this before you enter, sir." They instructed. "This way, no one will be able to tell who you are during the event."

Tomohisa studied the mask with a questioning look. 'What's with this whole hiding things?' He asked to himself. He, however, put the mask on his face. After that, he shifted the curtain aside and went inside.

Inside there was a large, dark ballroom lightened with only dim lights from the chandelier. The room was filled with other guest, dressing formally in suits or dress, all of them wearing masks. There were tables filled with food and drinks. The atmosphere was also very eerie and shady. Tomohisa deadpanned. 'Is this some kind of a Gothic ceremony?'

He tensed up a little when a waiter approached him, holding a tray of drinks. "Would you like a drink, sir?"

Tomohisa nodded and took a glass of wine from the tray. "Thank you." He said with a smile. The waiter gave him a small nod before walking away. Tomohisa then proceed to walk around the room to investigate his surroundings.

Even though they were wearing masks, he could still recognize few familiar faces from when he first met them in the previous parties. Of course, normal parties… not gothic like event like this. Anyway, they didn't seem to recognize him so he ignored them anyway. As he continued to stroll around the room, "Kya!" he accidentally bumped into someone.

Being a gentleman, Tomohisa immediately apologized. "Uh…I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." He noticed that he bumped into a young lady, wearing a black dress with a black mask.

The lady smiled at him. "Don't worry. No harm done." She told him with a swift of her hand. She didn't move away. He could feel her staring at him from head to toes which made him shivered a bit. "I'll…be going then. Sorry for bumping into you." He said politely, trying to get away from her as fast as possible.

He was stopped by her tugging on his shirt. "Is this your first time here, Mister?" She asked. "If you like, I would kindly tell you anything you want to know." She said with a smile.

He stared at her. She has long dark hair and fair skin, and even though she was wearing a mask, he could see that she has dark green eyes. She was a beautiful lady and her black dress made her glow even more. But, at the time, to him… she's…

'Creepy…' He turned to her and gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, madam, but I believe I should get going."

"To where? Your acquaintance? It doesn't seem like you're here with somebody else." The lady pointed out. He sweat dropped. She just wouldn't let him go. She moved closer to him and placed her hand on his arm. "Ne, why don't we get to know each other? I'd keep you accompany you since you're here alone."

He began to creep out by her behavior. 'Why are the ladies these days are so shameless?' He murmured to himself. He couldn't think of how to get out of the situation at the time. Before the lady could say anything more, someone pulled him forward and away from her.

Both of them were surprised by this. "Excuse me, Miss. Unfortunately, this young man already has companies." A familiar voice rang through his ears. He looked up to glance at his savior and immediately recognized the man with that bright blue short hair. The man glanced back at him and winked. Tomohisa grinned. 'Yup, that's him alright.'

The man grinned and turned to look at the lady, who pouted in disappointment. "Oh dear, my apologies. I'd like to excuse myself then." She said calmly before rolling her eyes and walked away.

Tomohisa sighed in relief as he watched the female left. He then turned to look at his savior. "Thank you for saving me, Kento." He grinned gratefully. The man shrugged his shoulder. "It's no big deal. If I let that kind of predatory woman snatch you away, it'd make your beloved fiancé cry." He teased. He was one of Tomohisa's friends, Aizome Kento.

Tomohisa chuckled. "Really… we're only engaged, you know? We haven't even made the final decision yet."

Kento shushed him. "Tsk tsk tsk… No one can tell what willll happen next. Who knows when the two of you might develop feelings for each other? By the way, I'm surprised you immediately recognize me even with this." He said, tapping his mask.

The silver-haired grinned. "I'd recognize you anywhere thanks to your hair color. Even so, I'm more surprised that you find out it's me."

The blue-haired shook his head. "The one who knew it's you is that guy over there." He murmured, jerking his tongue to one of the guests around them, a young man with short blonde hair, swift to the side.

Tomohisa brightened up. "Kazu!" It was again, one of his friends, Masunaga Kazuna. The blonde seemed to take notice of this and smiled. "Good evening." He greeted, approaching the two. "I heard that you were told to attend this but I had never thought that you would actually come."

"Ah…about that… My father said I should attend this to gain more new experiences of my surroundings because I've never attend an auction before." replied the silver-haired sheepishly. "What about you, Kento, Kazu? Were you also told the same?"

Kento smirked. "You should stop calling us by names, Mister. This is supposed to be a masquerade event so we shouldn't know who is who."

Tomohisa immediately snapped his mouth shut in realization. "Ahh…opps…"

His two friends chuckled in amusement. "That's quite an unexpected reaction coming from you, Young Master. I thought you're already used to this."

The silver-haired sighed. "Apparently… this kind of event is totally different from the normal parties so I'm a little clueless here…"

Kazuna grinned in understanding and patted his back. Don't worry...You're not the only clueless one here…"

"What about you?" Tomohisa turned to Kento, being careful of not to refer by the name. "Oh… as far as I've known, you always attend this kind of event from time to time so you're already used to it right?"

Kento grinned and ruffled his hair; being super careful not to ruin the front bangs. "Well, I am more mature than you guys, just so you know, and yes. This is not my first time here."

"Eh? That's quite surprising!" said Tomohisa, sounding a bit shock. "But, that's great. With you guys here, I feel a bit more comfortable here." He said, rubbing his temple. "Are there anyone here other than us?"

Kazuna shook his head. "Unfortunately, there's only three of us. The others… I heard that they were also blabbered by their family about this but…fortunately for them, they have their own excuse."

Tomohisa raised a brow. "Excuse?"

"Yuta and Goushi are underage in case you forgot." Kento replied.

"Oh. You're right!" the silver-haired grinned. He was unaware of this.

"As for Mikado, and Momotaro, they said they have studies for the upcoming exams. Tatsu said Hikaru's not feeling well so he's staying over at Hikaru's. And the last four said they're with Mikado and Momotaro." Kazuna listed off all of the excuses from the rest of their friends.

Tomohisa sweat dropped. "It seemed like we're the only one who couldn't come up with an excuse."

The blonde nodded sadly. The newbie duo dropped their head and let out a depressing sigh. Kento sweat dropped. "You two, since you guys are already here, why not just enjoy the night? I can assure it's going to be interesting." His tone changed a little when he said the last part.

As he finished saying this, the light in the room became more dimmer than it already was. Then abruptly, a spotlight was pointed to the front stage as a man appeared. The man was wearing a different mask than any other guests. He let out a cough.

This caught everyone's attention and the room immediately quiet down. "Ladies and gentlemen, good evening to you all and we hope that you're enjoying this marvelous evening." He greeted, spreading his arms. "Welcome to tonight's auction, once again held by us, and tonight, we would present more fabulous treasures and merchandises than always so…get ready to bid for it!"

Loud applauds roared from the guests when he finished his greeting. He held his hand up. "Also, tonight, we have a rare, special merchandise for the last one so brace yourself for it." He added.

Kento frowned a little at this. Tomohisa and Kazuna noticed this. "Kento?" Most of the guests became anxious and excited when the man announced this. The two were confused. The air around them has suddenly become very tense.

The man smirked. "Now then, the first merchandise is …" a subordinate of his came out from the curtain, pushing a cart which has a silver jewelry with black diamond on it. "This one! The black tear!" He announced.

All the audience stared at it in awe as the man continued. "The black diamond of this jewelry is said to be the tear of a goddess when she wept for the death of her loved ones…"

Tomohisa and Kazuna stared blankly at the stage as the man continued to ram about the jewelry.

"Somehow…this is more normal than I thought…" Tomohisa grumbled. "The temperature has suddenly dropped so I expected something more…umm…glory?"

Kazuna nodded in agreement. "Ditto…"

"Now, now…don't say that, you two. See? Everyone's pretty excited." Kento gestured to the guests who were bidding for the jewelry. "But…actually…what Tomohisa said is not incorrect either…"

The two blinked in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

The blue-haired sighed. "Normally, the auction is not this tense or interesting because of the merchandise that can easily be found anywhere…" He said. "But, there are a few times, when they have a rare 'merchandise' to present to the buyers… and those rare merchandises…. But actually, it's not that rare."

Tomohisa and Kanzuna listened to him with great interests. "It's not rare or hard to find. Most of the guests here are those who have their own pride because of their social statues… So, if that one person were to get his hand on that rare 'collection', his fame in the society can easily drop." He continued.

"That's why… we have to wear this mask so that no one would know who the person that wins the bid on that merchandise is." He pointed at the mask.

"Ohhh… I see…" The two wondered in amusement. 'In other words, this place really is filled with dangerous people…'

"Say, do you know what that rare merchandise is?" asked Kazuna.

Kento sighed and nodded. "The type of that merchandise is always the same every time it is announced." He muttered, sounding a little disgust. Tomohisa noticed this. 'What kind of item that might be?'

"So…have you ever bid on anything during auction like this before?" He asked curiously.

The blue-haired shook his head. "I have no interests in these kinds of things." He declared. "I only attend this auction because I was told to… that's all…" He pointed out.

"Heh…"

* * *

The rest of the event just went on normally, with the man presenting one merchandise after another and the guests; bidding against each other for the precious looking collection. Most of the items included jewelries, rings, necklaces, books, vases, paintings, vice versa. Tomohisa sighed. 'Hurry up and end…I wanna return and finish my studies as well…' he grumbled.

"Hey, aren't you gonna drink that?" Kazuna asked. Tomohisa snapped out from his thought when his friend pointed at the glass of while that he had been holding in his him ever since he came in the room. He grinned cheekily. "Yeah…I almost forgot about it…" He said, twirling the glass a little and took a sip of the drink.

Kento stared at the stage. "Well… it's going to begin anytime now…" He said.

"You mean… that rare merchandise?" asked Kazuna. He received a nod as a reply. "Honestly, I don't really want to watch this… It's kinda unbearable for me…"

"Eh? How come? Is it really that rare?" asked Tomohisa.

Kento remained quiet for a moment. "You'll find out soon enough…"

The man on the stage clapped his hands. "Everyone, the time you've been waiting has arrived!" He announced with a wide smile. All the guests looked eagerly at the stage at this. "Tonight is one of the few nights that we present you with a special merchandise so you're all lucky to get to see this." He continued. He gripped a string behind him and the spot lights were pointed to the center of the stage for everyone to see. "The last merchandise for tonight is…"

"Tomo, Kazu…" The two looked at their friend since he suddenly called them by their names. "... You'd better be prepared to endure...whatever you are going to witness now." He said sternly. The two gulped and nodded.

The man on the stage smirked and pulled the string. "The last merchandise for tonight is this!" The curtain shifted to the side to reveal the 'merchandise', lying on the stage with two men standing beside 'it'.

Tomohisa and Kazuna felt their eyes widely opened, their jaws almost dropped in shock and horror as soon as they set their eyes on what was on the stage. Kento closed his eyes and looked away in disgust.

All the other guests were in awe, some gasped in wonder.

The so-called 'merchandise' is a young teenager, who looked no more older than 15 years old. The teenager was laid on the stage, naked, displaying the pure white skin. The teen's hair was black and the few left bangs on the hair were fuchsia highlights. The eyes were also the same color, fuchsia, but they were a bit dull as if the teen was lifeless. The teen's lips were parted slightly and the teen somehow has the face of a beautiful maiden. The teen's hands were bound together with handcuffs and he was lying unmovingly on the stage.

Tomohisa was still in the state of shock, his mouth wide open like a fish. 'W-What the hell is this?'

"Kento, what is going on here? Why is-" Kazuna stuttere, recovering from his shock. The auction has somehow take a flip and turned into some kind of underground auction.

"That kid… is the merchandise…"Kento told them. "In case you guys are unaware, this auction is somewhat a little it illegal because of this. They don't want to get caught so they only present this type of collection very few times…After all… this auction is for those who want to get their hands on the rare collections. Teenagers like that kid…" he pointed at the stage, "…are sold by their family or they sell themselves to the one who hold this auction in exchange for money… So, they are obligated to do whatever they are told to because they're just a merchandise…"

"No way… how can this kind of thing…"

Tomohisa shivered slightly as he watched the lifeless-looking teen on the stage. He couldn't take his eyes off the teen. Who would such a thing to a human being? This was totally unacceptable… inhuman…

Kazuna sighed and looked away from the stage. "How cruel…"

* * *

On the stage, the man walked up to the teenage. His men grabbed the teen by the shoulders and held him up in a sitting position. "Ladies and gentlemen, what do you think of this beautiful doll?" He grabbed the tee's chin and forced the teen to look up. "The smooth, delicate, pure white skin… the elegant long black hair…and the breathtaking fuchsia, purple eyes and the majestic body shape!" He said with a wide smile. "We do believe that this type of collection is not very easy to find in your everyday life." He smirked as he added the last one. "And of course, this one is still pure and innocent…"

All the guests muttered to each other as they stared at the teen with eyes filled with lusts and desires. "And now… the auction will start at 20 million!" he man announced.

"35 MILLION!" "40 MILLION!" "No! 55 MILLION!" "60 MILLION!"

Immediately, many response from the guests broke out as they bid against each other for the 'merchandise'.

Kazuna stared uncomfortably at the commotion before his. "This is unbelievable…. They will go this far…just for this?" He covered his mouth. 'I'm starting to feel nausea…'

Kento sighed. "I did warn you guys, didn't I? Tomo, Are you ok?"

No reply…

"Tomo?"

Tomohisa stood still, staring at the teen with sympathies. 'Poor girl… getting caught up in this kind of situation…' He was lost in deep thoughts. 'She must have had it hard…being sold by her family… the one she trusts…' He looked carefully at the teen. 'Indeed… she is very pretty and breathtaking…' he blushed.

Unexpectedly, his blue eyes met with the teen's fuchsia ones. This caught him off guard as he jolted in surprised. 'W-Whoa…did our eyes just…?'

But, strangely, once their eyes met, Tomohisa couldn't look away and continued to stare. Suddenly, he thought he caught a glimpse of what the teen was trying to say, though the teen couldn't move.

"85 million! I heard 85 million! Is there anymore bidding?"

"ONE BILLION!"

Tomohisa stared at the teen carefully once again. Those bright violet eyes…

'Save me…'

"One billion! The highest bid is now one billion! Is there anyone else?" The man stood up, glancing at the audiences before him. "Anyone?" He asked one last time. He eventually raised his hand up. "Well then, the bid is now…"

"TWO BILLION!" A voice suddenly shouted, interrupting him. All the eyes turned to look at the sliver-haired young man who has just shouted, Tomohisa.

Kazuna and Kento stared dumbly at their friend. "T-Tomohisa?" Did he just…?

Tomohisa himself was also dumbfounded by his own action. 'D-Did I just shout that?' He sweat dropped. The man remained quiet for a while before he brought his hand down. "This bid is two billion! Sold!" He announced. A loud applause broke within the room once again.

Tomohisa gulped nervously. 'It can't be helped… what's done is done…' He said to himself before walking up to the stage. One of the man's subordinates handed him a pen and a checkbook and a pen. He took it and wrote down the amount of money and signed it before handing it back. He then turned to the man.

"Can I take her back with me now?" He asked. The man smiled and nodded. "Of course, you can. It's all yours." Tomohisa nodded and approached the teen who was lying on the floor and gently picked him up. He turned to the man again. "Would you mind removing these?" He asked politely, pointing at the handcuffs.

"Sure… why not?" With a snap of his fingers, one of his men approached Tomohisa, taking out a key and removed the handcuffs from the teen's hands. Tomohisa took of his jacket and covered the teen's fragile body before he fulling picked the teen up, carrying the teen in his arms. He stood up.

"I'll be taking my leave then. Have a good night, sir." Tomohisa bid a farewell before he took a step forward, walking down the stage, and across the room. He could hear the others murmuring from the guests as he walked past them, but he ignored them and continued on his way.

"Hey! Wait up!" Kenato and Kazuna came out from the crowds and followed after their friends and they all left the room together, leaving the guests behind.

* * *

"Kitakado Tomohisa, what do you you're doing?" asked Kento as they came to a stop once they were in the hall. Tomohisa grinned.

"Uh… I don't know either…"

"You don't know? What the hell do you think you're gonna do with the kid? Don't tell me you're that kind of person, too?" the blue-haired asked bluntly before taking a step back in horror.

"Wait! Wait! It's not like that!" Tomohisa protested. "Y-You see…I-I sorta feel sorry for her!" He blurted. Kazuna placed a hand on Kento's shoulder before glancing at Tomohisa, "Can you explain this?" He asked.

The silver-haired sighed. "Uh…well… it's just that…She's still young…she's already this miserable…" he stared down at the teen in his arms. The teen's eyes were now close so Tomohisa assumed the teen has fallen asleep. "I don't want her to go through something more dangerous than this... that's all…"

Kazuna and Kento huffed. 'How typical of this guy to be kind and caring…'

"I-I know it sounds a bit unreasonable of me…"

Kazuna shook his head. "Don't worry. I think we've heard enough reason for you to do this, and we understand. Right, Kento?"

The blue-haired sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "That's just like you… Anyway, we're not going against this but…since you're the one who've bought the kid, you have to take responsible and take good care of the poor kid. Hear that?"

Tomohisa nodded in gratitude. "Thanks, Kazu, Kento…"

"So, what are you gonna do next? Going back home?" asked Kazuna. He glanced at the teen a little. 'He has fallen asleep…'

"Well…I think I should bring her home and clean her a bit and let her sleep in my room for tonight… I'll figure out something else tomorrow." replied Tomohisa.

"And, how are you going to return? Did you bring your car?"

"No… My father has had a driver from the main house driving me here… I should give him a call now."

Kazuna smiled. "Well then, I guess you can take care of everything on your own." He said.

…

"No… Actually I can't…" Tomohisa murmured, his face turning a bit red.

His two friends looked at him in concern. "Uh…is there anything you need help with?"

Tomohisa remained quiet for a moment before he muttered quietly. "…bath her…"

"Huh?"

"I don't think I can bath a girl…." The silver-haired repeated nervously; his eyes fixed on the ground.

…

Kazuna blinked. 'Huh?' Kento scoffed. "Pfft… Girl? Tomo, I think you're mistaking something here."

This time, Tomohisa was the one who's confused. "Eh?"

"Uh…The kid you're holding…It's not a girl, you know…" Kazuna grinned sheepishly. "He's a boy…"

…

 _Silence_

…

Tomohisa stood, frozen. When he finally regained his senses, the only word that he could blankly mutter was…

"Huh?"

Kauna and Kento both sweats dropped at their friend's reaction. "Seriously…? Tomo…you're really unbelievable…"

 **This is totally out of character for me to write shounen ai fanfic. ^/^ But I can't help it... Tomohisa and Ryuji look so cute together that I couldn't help but ship them. This is my first time write this type of fanfic so I hope I did well. It's a bit of umm...+18... I hope you guys enjoy it. Thanks for reading and review, plz. /o/**


	2. A Child's Fantasy

**Disclaimer: I do not own B Project.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2, Just A Child's Fantasy**

A woman with long black hair walked past the many rooms through the halls to till she reached the door at the end of the corridors. She stopped in front of the door and noticed that the lights in the room were still on. She huffed.

"Ryu-chan, it's time for bed." She said gently, knocking on the door. She raised a brow when there's no reply from the other side. 'Is he not in the room?' She thought and opened the door to check on her child.

"Ryu-chan?" She called out the kid's name, peeking her head into the room. She sighed in relief when she spotted a young boy with black hair, wearing violate pajamas, lying comfortably on his bed with a book in front of him. His eyes sparkled brightly with interests as he seemed to be very much indulged and fascinated by whatever he was reading at that moment.

She smiled and entered the room. "Lights out, Ryu-chan." She said, approaching him on the bed. She sat beside the boy and ruffled his head gently.

"Just a little bit, Mommy. I'm almost done." The child replied without taking his eyes off the book. His mother huffed. "Alright. Just a for a little longer." She told him. "Say, what are you reading, Ryuji?"

She looked over to see what he was reading. The boy looked up and grinned. "This!" He told her, holding the book up for her to see. His mother smiled. "You're reading this fairytales book again?" She asked, gently taking the book from and flipping the book open. "You've never grown tired of this, haven't you?"

The little child grinned and nodded. "Because I love the story." He beamed cheerfully, reaching his hand up to adoringly rub the book's cover with his hand. He stood up with a smile.

" ' _May I have this dance, my beautiful princess?'_ asked the prince, with his charming smile." The boy said with a formal bow, reaching out his hand, mimicking what he has read in the book. He then jumped to the other side.

This time, his face cheek flushed pink slightly as he placed his hand on his lip, with his eyes looking down. " _'If you insisted…It's be my pleasure, Your Highness.'_ replied the princess timidly, placing her hand on the prince's palm."

His mother watched in amusement as she watched her son imitating the behavior of the prince and the princess from the book. "Wow. That's quite sweet." she said, clapping her hands. "You've already memorized the lines in the story."

He straightened up and shook his head. "Nope. Not all of them. I can only remember the ones from my favorite parts." He muttered timidly, twiddling his thumbs. "Hehh… So, just now, is it one of your favorite parts?"

He nodded.

"Then, is there any other ones?"

He nodded once again and raised both of his arms up, standing in a defensive stance. "'Do _not worry, Princess. I may not be a prince but, I would definitely protect you even if it costs my life!'_ the knight shouted with determination as he stood bravely before his princess with his mighty sword and shiny shield." The child said in a manly voice, his eyes firing up with excitement.

This made his mother covered her mouth in awe. He was just too cute. "Wow… That's quite dramatic, Ryu-chan!" She commented. The boy smiled nervously, his face flushed light pink at the lady's praising.

"Now that I think about it, your favorite scenes always involve about the interaction between the princess and the prince." His mother pointed. He tensed a bit. His mother smiled, and wondered. "Ryu-chan… could it be that… you actually like the princess instead of the story?"

The boy's face turned red. "Ahhh! " He stuttered, couldn't say anything because of the embarrassment. His mother giggled at his reaction.

"It's not the princess that I like…" the boy said after he had calmed down a bit. His mother raised a brow. "Heh?"

He twiddled his thumbs nervously. "…It's… her role… She is the princess…the heroine. That's why….everybody loves her… She always has someone to love or protect her…" He muttered. "And he gets all the attention… I just think it sounds very…wonderful…"

His mother's eyes softened and she gently patted his head. "So… are you saying that… you want to be like her?" She asked, making the boy gave her a confused look. "…?"

"Ryu-chan, do you want to be a princess?" She repeated specifically. The boy looked down; face flushed red.

"But…I'm a boy… I can't be a princess…" He murmured. His mother's eyes softened and she gently placed her hands on his shoulders, pulling him toward her.

"You know what, Ryu-chan? I will turn you into one tomorrow." She told him; making him confused even more.

* * *

 **The next day, at school…**

The girls in a certain class were swamping over a particular someone as they blushed and squealed in delight. "Kyaaaaaa! You look so cute and fluffy!"

"Who did your hair for you?"

"Your dress is so beautiful!"

"Why don't you dress like this from the beginning?"

The young child was crushed between his fangirling classmates while trying to answer each of their questions. Beside the girls, some of the boys were also trying to hide their pink-flushed face as they stared at the cute person that the girls were squealing at. Some of them just rolled their eyes and scoffed while the others could only sigh.

Just then, the teacher came into the class and saw the commotion. "Girls, girls! Back to seat now. We're going to begin our homeroom." She told them. All the girl groaned in disappointment before returning to their seat, clearing the view of the person that they were fangirling.

When the teacher saw the said person, she covered her mouth and gasped in surprise. "Oh my… Ryuji-kun, is that you?" She blurted out; her face turned pink. "You look so cute!"

The said kid smiled and nodded. "Hai, Sensei. It's me alright." He responded. "Wait. Why are you dressed like that? You look just like a girl."

The child grinned. He was wearing a pink fluffy dress with a white ribbon strapping to his waist. He also wore a white head band decorating with pink ribbons on his head. He smiled, making everyone blushed. His already feminine only added to his cuteness. Heck, some of his classmates couldn't even tell who he was when entered the class dressing like that.

When he responded only with a smile, the teacher blushed and coughed slightly to avoid squealing at him. "Oh well… never mind that… Let's begin the class, shall we?" She said.

And just like that, the young boy was surrounded his classmates, with them fangirling, squealing and blushing and praising how cute he looked. The young boy wasn't very happy when he surrounded by groups of people. "You look just like a princess!"

Those words… 'Just like a princess!' Those were the words that he had wanted to hear. He didn't feel like he was ne yet, but he could feel that everyone in his class like the way he looked at the time. Being an innocent five-year-old child he was, he really enjoyed the kind of situation that was in at the time. He loved it. He loved the attention that he'd received from his classmates and teachers. He thought it was the right decision to listen to his Mom.

Being able to gain all the attentions from everyone around him; including his parents, relatives and many others, being loved by those around him, he felt like he's a princess…just like the one from the fairy tale. He didn't care what people would say and continued to dress like a girl. That was until he became a middle schooler.

* * *

"Good morning, Ryuji-chan, would you like us to accompany you to school?" asked a teenage boy in a flirting manner.

The teen who was asked the question clicked his tongue in annoyance. "No, thank you. I will be fine by myself." He hissed before walking away.

The other teen's friends all snickered at his immediate rejection. The black-haired teen ignored them and continued his way to his school. He hated it when he was treated this way. He was very much bothered by it. Even though he had stopped dressing up in feminine clothes since junior high, he was still being treated like a girl!

It happened a few days before his first day of his junior high years. While he was on his way home, he was attacked by a stranger who happened to be his 'FAN'. Fortunately, a policeman happened to pass by and witness the incident and he was saved. That incident had truly given him a big scare and he started dressing as a normal boy to avoid all those troubles in the future….much to his mother's disagreement.

He mentally sighed in exhaustion. Having to deal with all of those who came and flirt with him made him felt frustrated. He really wondered why he had wanted to dress like a girl. 'Oh…that's right…It was because I want to be called a cute princess…' He regretted it now. He's already in high school but everyone's still treated him the same way they did back then.

"Ah. Ryu-chan, good morning." He was greeted by a cheerful teen with short bubblegum pink hair and a head taller than him once he entered his classroom. "Morning, Yuta. Energetic as always, aren't you?" responded the black-haired, placing his bag down on his desk and taking out his books. He was also greeted by several classmates who have entered the class, especially girls; who're eager to mess with him.

The taller boy grinned and plopped down on the seat beside him. "As popular as ever, O hime-sama." He teased. The black-haired sighed. "Don't start with that, Yuta. I'm not in the mood for jokes."

"Roger. Say, Ryu-chan, did you dye your hair? It looks prettier than always."

"Ah…" He touched the front part of his hair. "I didn't dye all of it. Just the front part. Mom says it matches my eye color."

"Hmm…well it really does. By the way, Ryu-chan, I heard that there'll be a big gathering party next week and your dad was invited, too. Are you gonna come along?" asked Yuta.

"Hmm…I probably won't…It's boring…"

"Now, don't say that. I heard that the kids from the other family are coming as well. We could make some new friends… though…they're a bit older than us…"

The black-haired stood up. "Yuta, I say I'm not going and that's final!" He said with a stern voice. Yuta was startled by this. "Ryu-chan?" His friend was acting strange recently. It's not like himself. From time to time, he would snap at anyone who annoyed him instead of shrugging it off. The black-haired let out a sigh and walked out of the classroom, leaving the pink-haired behind.

The pink-haired teen looked concerned. 'Is he gonna be alright?' One of the classmates approached him. "What's the matter? Is the princess in foul mood?" He asked, grinning. The pink-haired sighed. "I have no idea either…"

"Lately, he started dressing normally like a boy…what a waste…" The classmate sighed sadly. "He's quite a beauty…but well, even if he doesn't wear girls' clothes, his pretty face and his long hair still doesn't change his appearance." He snickered.

The pink-haired frowned. 'I wonder if that's the reason why Ryu-chan's short-tempered recently…'

No. That wasn't the reason. It partly was, but not mostly. He was just pissing at himself!

* * *

The rest of the day went by and when class was over, he quickly returned home; not wanting to deal with any more flirting and problems from the others, especially boys.

"I'm back…" He murmured his usual greeting once he got back to his house. He was greeted by one of the maids. He handed her his bag and took off his jacket before handing it to her as well. "Are Mom and Dad home?" He asked.

The maid nodded. "Yes, young master. The Master and the Lady are currently in a middle of a discussion in the living room."

"I see… I'm skipping dinner tonight. Just bring a cup of hot chocolate and some snacks to my room." He walked away from her and made his way back to his room. On his way, he passed by the living room and stopped when he heard his parents' voice.

"We've got no other choice! This is the only way for us to deal with this!" he heard his father growled. He sighed. It's probably about the conflicts between the partnerships with the other company again.

He then heard another voice. "But dear, how can you be so sure? You know we can't do that! They're our children!" argued his mother. "It's not-!"

"I ain't talking about both of them. I'm only talking about the boy! Look at him! He's useless! What can he do? He's not like his sister. He's not smart or anything! The only thing that he's good at is wearing girl's clothes and walking around like a drag queen! Who does he think he is? Some kind of a princess from a fairy tale? What a disgrace!"

The teen bit his lip and clenched his hands tightly. 'So, you did observe me…'

"Oh, Ryu-chan. Welcome back." His mother noticed him and she was panic. She looked like she didn't want him to know what they were talking about. He turned to look at his father who was staring at him and then looked away with a scowl. "I'm back…"

* * *

He flopped down on to his bed after he had taken a quick shower. He felt his hair still soaked from the shower. It wasn't dry yet. He sighed and twirled a bang of fuchsia part of his long black hair. 'Now that I've actually thought about it…long hair is really a pain…' He sat up on his bed. 'Maybe I should just cut it off…' He grumbled to himself before standing up and walking around his room to look for a pair of scissors.

'Urgh…where is it? I remember putting it here…' He murmured, searching through his drawers. But he couldn't find it. He sighed and ruffled his hair. One of the maid that cleaned his room must have had kept it in another place. How troublesome…' and then, he spotted something in the drawers. It was a book; a fairytale book that used to be his favorite.

" **The only thing that he's good at is wearing girl's clothes and walking around like a drag queen!"**

He flinched, eyes widened. He gritted his teeth and forcefully slammed the drawer shut before walked back to the bed, flung himself onto the soft mattress. He could still hear his father's voice echoing through his head. It was filled disappointment. It was filled with shame.

'He finally admitted it…' He thought, clenching the soft fabrics tightly in his hands. His face buried deeply onto his pillow. 'And I thought you said you wouldn't give a damn about what I do…'

When he started dressing like a girl, his father wouldn't say or complain anything about it. But, he knew that his father didn't like it. His father could pretend not to care about how he was, but he could tell from how the man was eyeing him. Each and every time he came across his father, he could sense the disgust, the hatred, all the disappointment and the fear of how someone would find out about this from the man. Even after he stopping doing it, he'd still received the same look from the man.

It wasn't like he didn't know! He knew that wanting to be a princess was an insane idea! It was only a childish thinking! How could he become a princess when he's a boy? He knew! He knew yet he still did it! He regretted it, but he didn't want to stop. If he did, he felt like he was surrendering. He was backing away.

'I really am a fool… Why am I feeling embarrassed now when I'm already used to this?' He laughed slightly. 'What an idiot I am… Now I'm the princess of the school…so what?'

He rolled over to his stomach and covered his eye with his hands. 'It was all pointless from the beginning. Even if he really did want to become a princess, he could never be one. There's no way he could…

"Urgh… I feel horrible…" He grumbled. There was a knock on his door. "Ryu-chan?" It was his mother. The door opened and she reluctantly peeked her head in. "Ryu-chan, I'm coming in."

'You're already letting yourself in…' His mother opened the door wider and came inside the room. She walked to him while carrying a tray with a hot cup of chocolate and a piece of strawberry shortcake. "I heard from the maid that you're skipping dinner again, Ryu-chan." She said, placing the tray on the table beside his queen-sized bed. She spotted a few lollipops on the table; mostly strawberry flavor. They had always been the boy's favorite treats.

"Here's your choco, Ryu-chan." She picked up the cup and held it beside him. "You might want to drink it while it's still warm." She said with her usual gentle motherly smile.

The teen sneaked a glance his mother for a second before he plopped himself up from his bed. "Thanks, Mom…" He leaned forward to take the cup from the woman. But when his hand got near it, his mother stiffened slightly and she pulled back.

The boy raised a brow, confused by his mother's slight strange behavior. "Umm… Mom?"

"Ahh….Ah…oh, sorry, Ryu-chan." She laughed nervously. "I thought it was still a bit too hot to drink." She said. She sounded like she's trying to find a reasonable excuse. "There you go."

The boy took the cup from her; this time, she didn't pull away. He took a sniff of the hot sweet smell. He glanced to the side and saw his mother staring at him with a weird look on her face. What was that? Worries? Curiosities?

He shrugged and decided to ignore her for now. His mother watched as he finished half of the drink from his cup before placing it back on the table. "How was your day, Ryu-chan?" She asked. "Does your uniform feel comfortable?"

He sighed and ruffled his hair. "Well, it is not uncomfortable. What do you expect?"

His mother knew that she shouldn't ask about this any further. It was the topic that she had to avoid not to stress him out. "What about you, Mom? You were talking with Dad just now, didn't you?"

She flinched slightly. "Ah…did you hear us?" He didn't, did he? The boy shook his head. "I didn't…" Though… he did hear the disappointed statement from his father. "What were you talking about? I did hear my name from your talking though."

His mother began to sweat. "Ah…we were just talking about your future. It's nothing much."

"Mom, you don't have to lie. I still have two years ahead of me before I enter college." He murmured. "Dad was talking about me…wasn't he?"

"Ah… It wasn't anything important. Your dad was only telling me how you-" She was cut off by him. "I know…He was telling you how ridiculous and hideous I am. I heard it…" He curled his knees up to his chest. "I really am an embarrassment, aren't I?"

His mother tensed. "Ryu-chan…You're not an embarrassment." She placed her hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to care about what your father says, Ryu-chan. He is not very honest with his feelings. He doesn't mean what he says."

The boy frowned and rubbed his temple. "Well, what he says is true though…" He looked at her in the eyes. "I'm nothing…I'm no good at anything other than acting like a fairy tale princess."

"But, Ryu-chan, everyone likes when you're like that. You also like it, don't you? You've always wanted to be-"

"Yes, I did!" He growled. "I did want to become one and I became one because of your help, Mom." He turned to her and smiled sadly. "Mom, thank you for turning me into a princess. I'm very happy when you said you could. But in the end, I can never become one… I realize it a long time ago." He murmured.

He touched his face. "Everyone says I have a pretty face like a girl. I have long, soft hair like a girl… even though they say that... in the end, it doesn't change the fact that I'm a boy…"

His mother shook her head. "No, Ryu-chan. Don't think that way."

He stood up, facing his back against his mother. "Enough, Mom. You've done enough for me. Please… I want to be alone…" He began to walk away; unaware of his mother's gaze, staring at his back. She clenched her hands tightly, feeling anxious as she watched him walked away gradually.

As the teen eventually made his way to the door, he started to feel strange. He stopped right in front of the door. Weird… He felt tired all of a sudden. What was wrong with him? His visions started to become blur and his eyelids felt heavy. He turned around to see his mother standing up. "…Mom…?" He managed to murmur despite his tiredness.

He took a step forward trying to ask for help from her. But, when he fully turned around, he couldn't keep himself straight. His body was heavier than always. 'Tired…' He wobbled and staggered as he tried to take another step forward. Then, his legs finally gave out and he collapsed. His mother gasped and immediately moved to catch him before he hit the floor.

He felt her gently held him in her arms. She was trembling. She was shaking. But why? With his remaining strength, he tried to glance at her with his half-lidded eyes. "Ryu-chan…" She sobbed. Her voice was cracking. Tears trailed down from her eyes; dripping down to his cheek. Why? Why was she crying?

"Ryu-chan. Ryu-chan." She held him tighter while murmuring his name repeated. "I'm sorry, Ryu-chan. I'm so sorry." Why was she apologizing? Why did she sound so guilty?

'Ah…damn…not good…' His strength has finally left and he started to lose grasp of his consciousness. "Ryu-chan…" The last he heard before he blacked out was his mother's weeping.

* * *

The teen slowly regained his conscious and woke up from his sleep. He was still feeling tired and he hasn't fully recovered his body strength yet. His surroundings were blurred and his vision was swirling and spinning.

"Hey, lookie here. It seems like the princess has woken up from her slumber." said a stranger's voice. 'Who's that?'

He tried to remember what happened before he passed out. 'Oh right…I was talking with my mom…in my room…' When his vision become a bit clear, his eyes snapped open abruptly when he found himself staring at a stranger's face. He bolted up from the bed he was on and turned his head from side to side.

He realized that he was in a room. It wasn't his bedroom. The light in the room was a bit dim, but he could see the three strangers, standing on the side of the bed, smirking as they stared at him. "Where am I? Who the hell are you guys?" He demanded.

The strangers snickered. "Aww…the princess is panic, isn't she? How cute." One of them said. It was a female's voice so he assumed it was a woman. Said woman leaned forward and roughly grabbed his chin, making him faced her.

"Don't worry, my dear. Be a good boy and do as we say. If you don't want to get hurt, that is." She told him. The teen's eyes narrowed slightly. He didn't like the situation that he was in. He didn't feel like trusting these shady people either.

The stranger lady wasn't prepared when the teen suddenly launched forward, pounding his fist into her stomach. She shrieked and stumbled back, holding her stomach. Her two acquaintances behind her were startled and stunned. The black-haired took this chance and jumped out of the bed and dashed to the door.

"He's gonna escape!" the woman ordered. One of the men swiftly moved to block the door and stopped the boy. He was fast enough to grab the boy's shoulder. Immediately, the teen reacted by grabbing the man's arm and threw him over his head, sending the man flying forward. Another man caged both of the teen's arms from the back, but that didn't stop the teen there. The black-haired kicked the man's knees; making the man loosened his grips on his arms. Abruptly, the teen slammed his elbows in the man's stomach; making his opponent crotch down in pain.

The young teen then proceed to run to the door but the woman flung herself towards him, making him fell forward. The woman forcefully pinned him down and held his two hands together to prevent him from fighting. "Hurry up, you lots! Do something before he escapes!" She growled.

"Let the hell go of me, you bitch!" the teen hissed as he struggled to break free. The two men quickly approached them and one of them took out a pair of handcuffs and bound the boy's hands together with it. The woman sighed and stood up, rubbing the sweat from her forehead.

"There! That should prevent you from moving too much." She mumbled. "Put him back on the bed!" The men did as they were told and grabbed the struggling teen and threw him onto the soft fabric. "Phew…Not so tough now, eh? Who knew you could fight?" She smirked watching the teen glared daggers at her. She frowned. "What is with that arrogant look?" She snarled as she launched forward and pulled the teen's hair.

The teen yelped when he was forcefully pulled forward. "Be grateful that we didn't beat the shit out of you, brat! If there weren't any orders that prevent us from hurting you, you wouldn't have woke up, shitty brat!"

One of the men stepped forward. "Hey, don't do anything that will damage his body. He's an important merchandise." He said. The woman rolled her eyes and let go of the boy. "You don't have to tell me. I already knew!"

The teen sat up. "Merchandise? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He shouted. The gang stared dumbly at him before they smirked. "I see… you know nothing, eh?" She snapped her fingers. "Boys, I think we should give him the drug now." The two men smirked and inched closer the teen.

The teen scrambled backwards, glaring at them. "Stay back!" He hissed. "Come any closer and I'll kick your sorry asses!" One of the men grabbed his arm. This snapped the teen and he swung his leg to kick the man in the head, but was stopped midway when another man grabbed his leg and pinned in down together with his other leg.

The woman watched; impressed and shocked by the boy's resistance. "Oh wow… Quite a fierce princess we have here. You're really persistence." She approached him. "Give it to me. I'll do it while you guys hold him down."

"Urghhh! Stop calling me PRINCESS! Are your eyes so bad that you didn't notice I'm a boy?" growled the teen in annoyance. He really hated being called that now. "Heh…" The woman took a syringe from the man who was holding his arms. "I thought you want to be a princess… Guess I've mistaken."

"Says who?! I already quitted being one!" the teen shouted; keeping his eyes on the syringe that the woman was holding. "Hold him still!" She ordered and the two men put more force into pinning him down. But, he wouldn't have any of that and struggled even harder. "LET GO OF ME! You think I'd let you do anything you want? In your dreams!" As he continued to struggled, he managed to free his right leg and he kicked the woman right in her chin. *ouch*

"GYA!" His kick was strong enough to force her backwards. She glared at him rubbing her chin painfully. The two men winced. That's gotta be very painful. Blood dripped down from the corner of her lip where she was accidentally cut by the kick. She spit the blood away. "So, you wanna play that way, huh?" She got up and walked to the bed and grabbed the teen by his collar. "If you wanna play rough, I'll play along with you, too, boy!" She snarled, punching the boy in the cheek. The teen winced but he didn't cry out. After that, she grinned and kicked him in his stomach. This time, he couldn't hide his pain and yelped.

After that, he was forced onto his belly with the woman sitting on top of him, pinning him down. She held up a handkerchief and covered his mouth and nose with it.

The teen muffled as he breathed through the fabric. 'They've put something into this!' He thought. The woman sighed. "I wasn't planning to do this at first, but it seems like one dose of these won't be able to hold you down for long. So, I'm gonna give you lots of it." She crackled and jabbed the syringe into the boy's neck before injecting something into him.

The teen's scream was muffled because of the handkerchief. Being injecting by a syringe was nothing, but… the foreign drug that she's injecting into him…what the hell was that? He felt like his nerves were damaged as the liquid flowed through his circulation. He gasped. His heartbeat became faster and he felt exhausted even more.

The woman was enjoying what she was seeing…his pain-looking expression. "How's that, boy? Feeling good?" She took the needle out before feeling the syringe with the liquid again. The two men glanced at each other before looking at her. "Hey, I don't think that's a good idea. His body might not be able to resist that much."

"Oh, shut up! You see how strong he is with this tiny, fragile body of his. In fact, this is more convenient in many ways." The woman argued back. "He is needed to be prepared to satisfy gis new owner." She then stuck the needle in again; injecting more liquids into him. The boy scrunched his eyes closed tightly and groaned in pain. 'What are she talking about?' His body began to feel very hot and he began to feel a very unpleasant sensation. It was very painful. 'STOP!'

The woman repeated her action and injected him with the syringe again and again after refilling it. Tears began to well up from his eyes and dripped down his cheek when the pain from the sharp needle piercing his skin become unbearable. She didn't even bother to remove the handkerchief from his mouth.

The woman laughed as she watched him being in pain. "Now, how do you like that, princess? Why don't you bawl your eyes out like a real princess? A shining prince in armor might come and save you." She teased. "Just like in your favorite fairy tale." She grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. Her eyes narrowed when she saw his expression. 'Why are you doing this?' was what it was saying.

She smirked. "Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm just doing my job. If you're looking for someone to blame, blame your father." The teen's eyes widened in disbelief. What did sge just say? "Your father was the one who traded you for cashes. Apparently, he says his younger son is very good in this kind of thing."

'Dad? Dad… he…he…' More tears dripped down his eyes. 'How could he? How could he?' He couldn't believe this. His dad, his dad sold him to these people. How could he do that? He knew he was very disliked by his father but he didn't think the man would do this. Then, it hit him! That conversation that he overheard that night… they were talking about this? His mom, she could have stopped him! Why did she let this happen? His eyes widened when he realized something. 'Mom! She was the one who gave me the drink!' So...that meant that... she also wanted him gone? No. That couldn't be... His mother cared about him more than his father. They why? Why?

He felt angry. He felt distraught. He felt sad. He felt betrayed by the only person he'd ever loved. 'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!' But, he was not in the position to do anything now. He felt too weak to even resist the pain from being injected the drugs.

If this was a fairy tale where he was actually a princess, a prince would always come to the rescue. But sadly, it wasn't. This was reality. This wasn't his fairy tale fantasy. There's no prince or knight coming to save him. He was not a princess and he would never be one.

He knew that he thought of this as a fantasy before… but right now…he really wished that his fantasy would actually come true. Just this once… only this once…

If only this could come true… But it never would…

* * *

 **Uwah... I guess I'm still bad at writing this kind of thing. But, I'm satified with this chapter though. I will try my best to improve more in the upcoming chapters. Thanks for reading and I hope you guys enjoyed it. Review, plz!**


	3. Sleeping Beauty

**Disclaimer: I do not own B Project.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3, Sleeping Beauty**

Tomohisa glanced down quietly at the young boy sleeping soundly on his lap. The boy's face looked very peaceful and angelic. Tomohisa could feel his chest heaved up and down as he was breathing calmly as he slept. He could sense the sign of relief from coming from the sleeping teen.

'He really is beautiful beyond words…for a boy…' Tomohisa thought to himself with a smile and brushed some of the bangs that were covering the boy's face to the side. Really… He didn't notice that the kid was a _boy_ until his friends had pointed out. It was a real shock to him since the boy looked too pretty for a male…

"Young Master, are you certain that this is a good idea? Your father's order was only to participate in the auction." said the driver; sounding concerned and unsure. "Moreover, the merchandise that you've bided is a person, not even a jewelry. He won't be pleased once he's found out about this matter."

The silver-haired huffed. "So…what if my father did find out? He told me to **participate** if I wish to. I merely did as I was told." He leaned against one his hand; his eyes glowed eerily for a moment as he continued, smiling. "Joining in with the auction, biding for merchandise… Aren't those what means to participate in the event like this? I'm sure that even my father cannot complain about this because I followed his every word…"

The driver shuddered slightly at this. The young master of the Kitakado group might be well-known for his princely charisma, kind, cool and calm composure, but even he sometimes has a line that should never be crossed by anyone. The driver knew this very well, having watched the young man grown under the strict teaching of his parents. "Although…I highly doubt that my father would be the most problematic one to deal with…" The driver heard Tomohisa murmured quietly.

He was right. The one who was hard to deal with wasn't the silver-haired's father. It was someone who has disciplined him and shaped him ever since he was young; the head of the Kitakado group.

"…However, what do you intend to do with this young lady here?" asked the driver. "Are you gonna tell your father about this?"

Tomohisa blinked. Good point. What was he supposed to do with her… no… him? He scratched his cheek nervously. "I have no idea at all. What do you think I should do?"

The driver sweat dropped. Why did he buy him in the first place? Wait…him? "Master, him… you mean to say that the person there is…"

"Yes. He's a boy. You also can't tell, right?" Tomohisa chucked. "I also mistook him for a girl, too."

"Indeed, I would. He has quite a beautiful face of a maiden." Another reason why the driver didn't notice the boy's gender was because he only saw his face, not his body. Half of the young teen's body was covered by the silver-haired master's jacket.

"For now… I think I will just keep him under my care first. Also, don't mention any of this to my father yet." said Tomohisa.

The driver nodded. "Yes, sir. Even so, he would still find out that you bought something from the auction since you've withdrew quite a sum of money from your account." He warned.

Tomoisa sighed. "I am aware of this. But, I used my savings, not his money. Just don't tell him that the bidding was on a boy." He patted the sleeping boy's head gently with his hand. The boy shivered slightly at his touch. Tomohisa's eyes softened.

'He must be cold…' He tugged the jacket up a bit to cover the boy's shoulder. 'Sorry for having to letting you enduring this. Wait a bit till we get to my house.' He smiled gently, stroking the long black hair.

The driver sighed and smiled. He didn't know how Tomohisa was planning to deal with his father, but he half knew why the silver-haired brought back the boy with him. "Young Master, we're almost arrived at your mansion." He told the man. Tomohisa looked through the window and nodded.

The car drove up the hill surrounded by trees. At the end of the road, one could make out the view of a huge, Victorian style mansion. The car stopped when it eventually the front door of the mansion. The driver opened the back car door for Tomohisa, who stepped out, carrying the sleeping boy in his arms. The driver then walked over to the front door and opened it with a spare key.

"Again, thank you for today. I'll take care of the rest from here." said Tomohisa as he stepped. "Also, say nothing to my father if he asked nothing about this."

The driver nodded and bowed. "Yes, Master. Do you have anything else to add?" He asked.

Tomohisa thought for a while. "Tell the maid that she doesn't need to come this week...and until I told her to."

"Are you sure about this, Sir?" The older man looked unsure at this.

The young master gave him a nod. "Don't worry. I can handle this." The driver nodded. "Yes, Master. Have a good night, sir."

"You, too." With that, the driver closed the door and left. Tomohisa kicked off his shoes and put on a pair of slippers. He then walked down the short hall. The light was already on as soon as he stepped into the mansion. At the end of the hall was two stairways; one led to the left side of the mansion, and the other one to the right. He took the one to the left side since his bed room was at the left side.

Footsteps echoed through the entire mansion as he walked up the stairs and through a long hallway. There was no one other than him in the mansion since he started living alone right after he graduated from high school. He stopped at the end of the hall and turned to open the door on his left before entering.

Tomohisa walked over the king-sized bed in the middle of the room and gently lied the sleeping boy down. 'Alright…now…what to do next…' He thought taking off his white vest and folded his sleeve to his elbows while staring at the boy. He rubbed the back of his head. 'I supposed I should clean him first…' He thought, making his way into the bathroom.

He filled the bath tub with hot water and then added cold water to cool down the heat. Once the bath was ready, he returned to fetch the boy. "Pardon me…" Tomohisa murmured before he tugged his jacket from the boy and placed it to the side. He scooped the boy into his arms and carried him to the bath tub. Carefully, he sank the boy into the hot bath, letting the boy's head leaned against the edge of the bathtub.

Tomohisa stared at the boy suspiciously. 'Oh wow…he's still sleeping despite this…just how exhausted he could have been…' The young teen's long hair spread around as soon as they got soaked by the water. 'Ah…I guess I'll have to wash his hair, too…' thought Tomohisa. His eyes slowly traced down from the beautiful black hair to the pure white skin. He blushed. 'Why am I getting flustered for? He's a boy!'

* * *

 **The Next Day**

It was like any other normal. All the students in the Gandara University were chatting with their friends, some were heading to their lecture class, some were fooling around, and others were having snacks in the cafeteria. "Hey, look! It's Masunaga-kun!" whispered one female student to her friend; pointing at a certain blonde who was walking down the hallway.

All the girls squealed excited and moved aside, making ways for the blonde. The blonde noticed the girls' squealing and smiled politely at them. "Good morning, everyone." He greeted, making them squealed even louder.

"Hey hey, Kazu. It's still early in the morning. Don't go around killing the girls yet." Kazuna turned around and spotted Kento walking towards him. The blonde sweat dropped when he saw the other girls fangirling behind his blue-haired friend. "The same thing should be said to you as well…"

"So… today, it's just you, me, Tomo and Akane, right?" Kento said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. Kazuna nodded.

"Yes. The rest of the guys had different classes till the third period. I guess we'll be meeting them during lunch." The two of them made it to their class and spotted a certain silver-haired sitting in his seat, reading his book.

Kento heaved a sigh and walked over to his friend. "Early as always, aren't you?" He commented catching the silvernette's attention.

"Oh hey, Kento. Good morning, Kazu." Tomohisa greeted. The blonde approached and sat down next to him. "Good morning, Tomohisa. How's the boy doing?" He asked.

Tomohisa sighed and rubbed his temple. "He still hasn't woken up yet. " He murmured. "Even while I was washing him, he didn't even react. I guess he is unconscious rather than simply sleeping."

Kazuna raised a brow. "Is he that exhausted? Or is it because he's relief?"

"Probably because his body is over-exhausted." Kento said thoughtfully. "People like that kid… before they were put onto auction, they would be injected by some sort of aphrodisiac drugs...and not just few doses…"

The two men looked stunned hearing this. "No way…that is just…" Kazuna started, half gasping. "…that is just too harsh and unacceptable." He muttered.

"Now that you mention it…I noticed a few spots on behind his neck and on his arms. They're probably the injuries from when he's being injected." Tomohisa murmured, recalling the time when he was bathing the young boy.

Kento sighed and rubbed the back his head. "Well… there you have it. Back then, he might be trying to resist the effect of the drugs and put lots of stress on his body. My guess is he passed out because his body has finally given out…because he felt relief…"

Kazuna and Tomohisa blinked in confusion. "Relief?"

The bluenet nodded. "Yup. Very much relieved. Can't you two tell from the way his face look?" He asked. "He was still slightly conscious when he was on that stage. Back then, he looked more like a lifeless doll rather than a person. But, after Tomo brought him away from that place, his face softened a bit, don't you think?"

Kazuna blinked. "Hmm…you certainly are right…maybe he felt like he could trust Tomohisa and let his guard down…" That was a possibility because… it's Tomohisa…

'Relief? He felt relief? But…that time…' Tomohisa tried to remember that one short moment when his eyes met with the beautiful, yet soulless eyes. _**'Save me…'**_ was what he thought those eyes were saying. 'Maybe I was just imagining things?' There was no way the boy could trust a total stranger to help him. He let out a heave of long sigh.

Kazuna and Kento smiled half-heartedly as they watched their friend leaned against his arm in distraught. Kento gave Tomohisa a friendly slap on his back. "Well, with that said, take good care of the kid till he wakes up, Tomo. You know how to tend an unconscious patient, don't you?"

Tomohisa could tell that Kento was going to make fun of him if he responded with a tiring sound. "Of course, I do. I at least know the basics even though I am not a doctor like my father." He charged at the man first.

The blunet grinned. "I know."

Kazuna chuckled at their somehow childish behavior. "Anyway, you're leaving after this class, aren't you?" He asked.

Tomohisa turned to him and nodded. "I only have the first period today so I'm heading back to my house." He took out his cell phone and showed it to the blonde. "Also, I was sent some works to deal with." He said, sounding very annoyed.

"Ah…I see… If you need any help, just tell us."

Tomohisa nodded. "Thanks, Kazu. Also, please keep this between the three of us."

The two friends blinked and stared at each other before turning to look at the young Kitakado again. "Pardon?"

"Please… don't tell anyone about the boy yet. I don't want anyone to know about him until I'm sure." said the man with a worried look on his face.

Kento frowned and crossed his arms. "By anyone…you mean… those guys, too?" He asked, referring to their other friends

"Only until the boy wakes up. I'll tell them eventually. Pretty please." asked Tomohisa with a playful wink; but he sounded serious. Kazuna nodded in acknowledgment. "I understand."

"And you, Kento?" the silver-haired turned to his other who hasn't given him an asnswer. Kento only gave him a disapproving stare, but said nothing. The atmosphere around the three became a bit tense.

"Good morning, guys!" greeted a familiar orange-haired teen cheerfully as he unexpectedly approached the three. Kazuna was the one to greet back. "Good morning, Akane. You're late as always."

The orange-haired grinned and sat down beside the blonde. "There isn't any point coming to class early. Plus, the teacher isn't here yet even though I'm late." He stated. Kazuna deadpanned. What Akane has just said sounded unreasonably reasonable.

Akana leaned to glance at the two who were still having a staring conversation. "Hey, Kitakado, Aizome. Whatcha guys doing?" He asked.

Kento was still giving Tomohisa the same stare, but then she sighed and turned away. "Nothing…" he muttered, resting his chin on his hand. "Tomo was just complaining about the extra work that has been assigned to him."

Fortunately, Akane bought the story. "Ohh…is that so? How unusual of you, Kitakado."

Tomohisa laughed lightly. 'Thanks, Kento.'

* * *

 **After the first period**

"Then, I'll be going back for today." said Tomohisa once the lecturer had dismissed the class while putting his things in his bag. "I won't be joining for today's lunch either so you don't need to wait for me." He told his friends.

"Oh…right… Today, Kitakado only has one class…How lucky…" Akane grumbled while pouting. Kazuna chuckled. "But, he has tons of works waiting for him though."

"Really? That's quite troublesome."

Tomohisa let out a laugh. "Yes. It is indeed troublesome." He muttered. "…but, it can't be avoided. It can never be avoided." He murmured the last part quietly; only heard by Kento and Kazuna.

The silver-haired picked his bag and stood up then he left the class along with the three. While they were walking through the corridor, Kazuna was chatting merrily with Akane. Kento inched closer to Tomohisa and threw his arm over his friend shoulder.

'"So…you're going back to take care of the princess? Or are you planning to drop by for lunch somewhere else?" He asked.

Tomohisa replied without a second thought. "I'm going back to take care of him. Patient comes first! I can have lunch after that."

The blue-haired grinned. "Oh…how? So you can cook?"

Tomohisa's eye twitched slightly in annoyance at this. "Kento…you intentionally ask this because you know I can't…am I right?"

Kento scoffed and laughed. 'So I was right…' The blue-haired continued to snicker for while with his arm hanging around Tomohisa on their way. Then, the two suddenly bumped into someone who walked out of the class.

"Oof!"

"Gya!"

The person they bumped into stumbled a bit since she was a girl. "Ah…sorry, Miss. Are you alrig-?" Tomohisa stopped half way while he was going to check on her. His whole body froze a bit.

"Oh…Uh… No, it's fine. I'm oka- Tomo-kun?" The girl looked surprised as well when she recognized the man in front of her. She has reddish brown hair, tied into a Pony-Tail with red eyes. Tomohisa would recognize her anywhere.

Kento and Kazuna was alarmed by this. 'Ah…shit…'

Tomohisa smiled gentlemanly at the brunette. "Hello there, Sumisora-san. You should be more careful on your way. People can get hurt." He said; trying to sound as polite as always… although… they were the one at fault for bumping into her.

Kazuna and Kento gulped and began to sweat nervously while Akane only blinked cluelessly. The brunette girl looked hurt by how he addressed her and how he tried avoiding her gaze. "I'll be careful next time…" With that, she quickly walked away from him and his friends.

The two friends tried to ignore the awkward atmosphere caused by the silver-haired and the brunette. 'Why do they have to bump into each other?!'

"T-Tomohisa?" Kazuna called; feeling a bit anxious. He and Kento flinched when Tomohisa turned around to glance at them. "Well then, I'll be on my own from here." He said. "See you guys around." He then gradually walked away and eventually disappeared from the side.

The bluenet and the blonde sighed in relief. "Phew…that was one hell of an encounter…" murmured Kento, wiping the cold sweats from his forehead. Kazuna nodded in agreement.

Akane tilted his head to the side questioningly. "Umm…what was that about?" He asked. "Who was that girl? Someone you guys know?"

Kento nodded and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah…we sorta do…but, if possible, we didn't really want her to come across Tomo like this…"

The orange-haired was even more confused by this. "Why?"

Kazuna ginned nervously. "Right…you've just joined us this semester… You see, Akane, just now…that girl, Sumisora-san…"

Kento finished the rest of the statement for the blonde. "She is someone Tomo doesn't want to get involved with…anymore."

* * *

 **With Tomohisa**

Tomohisa directly went back to his place right after he left his friends. He did feel bad for suddenly leaving them only with a short notice though he knew they didn't mind. How glad he was for having friends who understood him more than his family. He wasn't expecting to come across that brunette today so he was uncontrollably frustrated.

'No.' He shook his head slightly. He mustn't let this kind of small trivial thing bothered him. It's already in the past. Everything was over between him and her. She has nothing to do with him anymore. He thought while making his way back to his bedroom.

'I have to calm down…' He said to himself before letting out a long sigh. He stood in front of the bedroom door. On the other side of that door was the black-haired beauty whom he left sleeping on his bed before he had gone to class. He gulped nervously. 'I wonder if he's woken up already.'

He was a bit hesitated to open the door. If the boy was happen to be awakened, what kind of expression would he be having? What kind of reaction would he making once he saw him? He'd probably be frightened. Why wouldn't he? …suddenly being brought to a new place while being unconscious…

With many thoughts of how things would turn out in his head, he gently opened the door and peeked inside. There, on his queen-sized bed, the boy in mentioned was sleeping soundly as if he had no care for this world. Tomohisa let out a sigh of relief and quietly entered the room, closing the door behind him. He walked over to the side of his bed, being careful not to make noises.

'Feels a bit awkward since I'm in my own room…' He murmured to himself for being considerate. He approached the bed side and glanced down at the young boy. The light in the room was dim because of the closed curtains, but, it was bright enough to let him catch a glimpse of the fair teen.

He gently reached out his hand to the younger boy's face, brushing the bangs covering his eyes to the sides and shifted the longer hair on his shoulders to his back. 'I hope he's not cold…' thought Tomohisa as he tugged the boy's shirt then pulled the blanket up to cover him more. After cleaning and drying his hair, Tomohisa couldn't find any clothes that matched the boy's size so he had no choice but to let him wear one of his over-sized pajama shirts.

'He's still unconscious…' he patted the boy's head gently. "Poor boy…" the word unexpectedly escaped his lips but he doubted anyone would hear it. There wasn't anyone around. Gently, he traced his palm to the teen's face and gently caressed his cheek.

Tomohisa frowned when he realized how hot the younger male's cheek felt under his touch. It was unusually hot for a normal person. He also noticed how fluster the boy's cheek was. 'Hey hey…don't tell me…' He moved his hand to touch the boy's forehead and one to touch his own forehead. 'As I thought…' The boy's body temperature was really high. He might be having a fever.

He retreated his hands and sat up from the bed. He made his way into the bathroom and returned to the boy with a basin of warm water, a towel and a shirt. He set the things on the table and soaked the towel into the basin. Sitting on his bed, he gently removed the blanket. The boy was sweating. His shirt was soaked.

Tomohisa sighed and sulked. 'Why didn't I notice this sooner?' He told himself to be more cautious in the future. But first, he has to change the shirt of else the boy's fever would worsen. He carefully took off the sweat-soaking shirt. His eyes trailed along the exposed skin as the shirt was taken off. Again, his heart skipped a beat as his face flushed red in embarrassment.

Then again, he mentally slapped himself in realization. 'Get it together, me. He's a male. A young boy in fact…' he sighed. Just what has gotten into him? Anyway, he should get on with it or else the boy would catch another fever from this. Without wasting any more time, Tomohisa set the shirt aside and rinsed the soaked towel.

He began to carefully wipe the boy's body with the towel, wiping the sweats away, cleaning him. After that, he changed the boy into a new shirt that he brought with him. After that, he tugged the boy back in the bed and placed the cover over him.

Tomohisa huffed and wiped his forehead once his task was done. 'Well then… whatever should I do next?' He asked himself. Unexpectedly, his stomach gave out a growl. He grinned nervously to himself. 'Maybe I should make something to eat first…' He took one glance at the sleeping boy and left the room; heading for the kitchen.

'I wonder if he's starving…' he thought. And then, he shrugged. 'Probably not…' He gulped and rubbed his temple. At the time he had to worry about himself first since he… let's just say that his cooking skills were a little below average…

It wasn't his fault since he grew up in a mansion with his meals being cooked by the mansion's chefs. Normally, he would have had something to eat outside with his friends but, not today…not when he has someone unconscious staying at his house all alone.

* * *

 **After some time**

Tomohisa was inside the kitchen, holding a cookbook while staring back and forth between the book and the dish he had just cooked. He huffed and fixed his glasses in place. "I'm pretty sure I followed every step from here…" He muttered. The dish that he made looked pretty different from the picture showing in the book.

What he was trying to cook was supposed to be omelette rice. However, he messed up a bit and ended up scrambling the egg instead. He gulped nervously as he tried taking a bite of the egg and the rice to taste it. 'Well, at least…it tastes delicious…' He commented while chewing the food.

He then remembered that he had works waiting for him and it needed to be done within tonight. He sighed in annoyance. But, it couldn't be ignored either because it was a direct order from the Head of Kitakado. 'It's better to finish them quickly rather than complaining without doing anything.' He told himself and quickly ate the omelette rice that he made.

After he finished eating, he placed the empty plates at the washing basin. He was about to return to his room when he realized how messy the kitchen was, thanks to him trying to cook. He sweat dropped as he observed the room. There were broken eggs on the floor and a few of them on the counter. He could also see the oil spilling around the fireplace and the frying pan that he used was also clumsily placed on the counter.

He took off his glasses and rubbed the back of his neck. "…I guess…I'll clean these up later…" He said with a nervous grin. He definitely wouldn't want to step into his kitchen if possible.

He went back to his room holding a bottle of water and a cup of coffee that he made for himself. Yes, making coffee was okay for him but cooking was a no. 'Should I give him some medicine?' He thought on his way.

'But, it might not be a good idea since he hasn't eaten anything yet…' He let out a huff as he arrived in front of his bedroom. 'I have no choice other than to wait for him…' he grumbled, entering his room. He closed the door and made his way to his study desk. He placed the water and the coffee down and turned on his laptop.

He sat on his chair and put his glasses on when the device was ready to work. He logged into his e- account and found the files that were sent for him to deal with. He sighed, clicking one of the files. 'Seriously… Aren't the head of the departments supposed to handle these matters? Why is she shoving them all to me?' He grumbled while reading through the file. Duty calls!

* * *

 **That night**

Tomohisa slumped in his chair when he saved the last file of his work before forwarding them back to the main office. "I'm finally done…" He thought tiredly. He was glad he didn't have any assignment that day or else he would snap. He calmed himself a bit remembering that he wasn't alone in his room. It's not very wise to throw a tantrum over minor things like this. 'I should take a shower…' He thought as he turned off the laptop and took off his glasses.

When he was about to stand up and headed into the bathroom, he heard a soft breathing coming from the boy, sleeping on his bed. Tomohisa blinked in confusion. Normally, one's breathing shouldn't be this loud unless they're having trouble breathing. He started to get worried so he approached the bed to check up on the younger boy.

When he found the boy, lying in the bed, still unconscious and as expected, the breathing sound was from the boy and he was panting heavily like a person who had just run a marathon. The boy's chest heaved up and down each time he inhaled and exhaled. He looked suffocating. Tomohisa tried to remain calm and think what he should do. He tried shaking the boy to see if he would wake up.

No response. He huffed. Of course, it'll be that way. The boy began to start coughing rapidly, making Tomohisa even more worried. 'Ahhhh…whatever should I do?' He shouted to himself. Wait… trouble breathing…coughing? He face palmed himself for not realizing this and for not noticing this sooner. He reached out for the bottle of water that he'd brought and sighed. 'Water is what he need…He probably hasn't drunk anything for while…His throat was dried out.

Carefully, he lifted the boy's head up, resting the younger lad against his arms. He opened the lid of the bottle and placed it near the boy's lip. He slowly raised the edge of the bottle; pouring some water into his dried mouth. Although…he knew that it wasn't a good idea to let unconscious person drink water.

For a moment, Tomohisa could feel the boy's body twitched a little. He thought that the boy might have regained his consciousness. However, he was wrong when the boy started to gasp and choke. "Whoa!" This caught Tomohisa off guard. The boy's starting to cough even more than before. The man thought he accidentally choked by the water and rubbed the boy's back to ease the coughing.

But then, the boy let out a cry as if he was in pain and started flailing his arms and legs. Tomohisa grabbed the boy's arms to prevent him from hurting himself. "Hey, hey! Wake up!" He shouted; calling out to the boy whom he didn't even know the name. The boy struggled violently against his grip. Tears began to form at the corner of his eyes and cascaded down his cheeks.

'What's going on?' thought Tomohisa. The boy's eyes remained shut and when he whimpered, no words came from him. He was still in his deep slumber. 'Is he having a nightmare?'

Tomohisa tightly gripped the boy's arms and without thinking, he pinned the boy down forcefully, trying to stop him from trashing around. The boy's mouth opened and he let out a cry. His hands were clenched into fists as he resisted against Tomohisa's hold. Sweats began to drip from Tomohisa's forehead as he tried to hold the younger boy down.

The boy's eyes were clutched shout as he continued to struggle. He looked like he was weakly defending himself from something and without Tomohisa holding him only seemed to worsen the boy's unknown terror. Tomohisa felt lost. He had no idea what he should do to pull the boy out from his nightmare.

'"Please…no more…" He heard a weak whimper coming from the boy. Tomohisa held his breath as he watched the teen cried helplessly as his struggles became weak. He was exhausted from all the trashing.

"I…I can't… no…" Tomohisa's eyes softened at the boy's helpless pleading. He loosened his grip on the younger one's hands and scooped the boy into his arms, pulling him into a warm embrace. The boy shook and shook against his touch but still hasn't woken up yet. Tomohisa gently patted the boy's head as he tightened his hold.

"It must have been hard for you." He said gently in a soothing voice. "Having to go through all those painful moments and frightening situation…" What was he saying? He barely knew about the boy. But, his heart was telling him to do this and he trusted its judgement.

"It's all over now… You're not there anymore…You're here. You're already safe." He said. The boy seemed to have calmed down a bit as his sobs turned to sniff and his trembling lessened. "I won't let you go through those things again. So…you can rest assure. Rest till you will forget all those painful moments."

Eventually, he felt the boy's body relax and he gently pulled away from the embrace to place the boy back in the bed. He wiped the boy's tears and sweats away and caressed his cheek. Tomohisa sighed in relief. 'He's finally relaxed…' That was one hell of a nightmare he had. This situation reminded Tomohisa of a certain someone he had taken care of for a short period of time in the past. 'How nostalgia…' He smiled gently, patting the younger boy's head.

The boy finally returned to his peaceful sleep. His breathing was calm and his clutched eyes were loosened. Tomohisa chuckled when the boy curled up, trembling slightly. The man tugged the cover that the boy had kicked away during his struggles back over his body. The boy's cheeks still had the light pink color and his mouth was parted slightly as he breathed in and out. 'Just like cat…' He thought.

He however brushed it off. 'No… this one is…with his pure, innocence and feminine looks…' It's more like a beautiful princess who has put into eternal slumber. That's right… The boy's sight right now… was like a painting of Sleeping Beauty that he had once read when he was young.

'So…that'd make me a prince?' Tomohisa thought, pointing at himself. He laughed light heartedly. It could be if this were a fairy tale. He shook his head at his childish imagination and tried to stand up. But, he couldn't. Why? He looked down to see the boy's hand, tightly tugging on his shirt. He wouldn't let go. Tomohisa sighed and lied down on the bed, next to the boy.

He stared at the boy's sleeping face. 'How vulnerable…' He murmured. Taking a shower could wait, but now… he had started to feel sleepy himself. He stretched his body a bit and closed his eyes.

'Good night…'

* * *

 **Oh wow. I think I let my eagerness and imagination run wild a bit. *sweat drops* For mostly of you guys, you'd probably know that the boy is Ryuji but I decided not to refer to him by his name yet because Tomohisa still doesn't know who he is. But, in the next chapter, it's time for our sleeping boy to wake up and I wonder how he would deal with this whole ordeal. We'd find out soon enough. :) Thank you for reading and review, plz. See you in next chapter.**


	4. The Princely Stranger

**Disclaimer: I do not own B Project.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4, The Princely Stranger**

Warmth… Comfort… They were the sensations that hit him first thing when he came to his senses. How many days and nights has it been since he had felt them before he was sent away by his parents?

He couldn't recall it. He didn't even have the chance to count as days passed by with him being locked inside that dark room and was given one injection after another. Then he was put onto stage and...

Screw that! He couldn't care less about this! All he wanted now was to sleep and rest and he didn't feel like waking up. He was feeling too cozy to wake up and he snuggled closer into the strong yet gentle arms that tightly held him close…Wait! What?

Immediately, his eyes snapped opened widely and he was greeted by the peaceful sleeping face of a stranger whom he had never met before. He stiffened for a moment; dumbfounded by the situation that he was in.

The stranger stirred a little and stretched his arms slightly. Then, his eyes opened droopily and he didn't look surprised when he was greeted with the fuchsia eyes. He grinned groggily. "Morning…"

…

" **!"**

Tomohisa was now seen sitting on the floor while rubbing the bruise under his cheek with his face scrunched in pain. 'Oww...that hurts…' He murmured. Feeling a sharp pain coming from his lower lip, he licked it a bit and the sour taste of blood hit his sense. 'Ah...I cut my lip…' He didn't even have time to react when his face was met with a fist out of nowhere.

Slowly, he dragged himself up from the floor to see the culprit who delivered the blow to him. The boy was sitting at the edge of the bed across him with his hands holding the hem of the oversized shirt to cover himself.

Tomohisa blinked. Now whatever should he do? "Hey, there." He grinned. "So, you've finally woken up. How are you feeling?"

His response was a silent threatening glare from the boy. Ah…this was going to be difficult.

The silver-haired sighed. "I can assure that you are safe. This is my house and I…" he paused before pointing at himself. "...well, I'm the one who brought you here...?" He replied with a smile.

The boy said nothing in response but was glaring daggers at him. 'Come any closer and I'll punch you again!' The glare translated.

'My my, he's threatening me…' thought the silver-haired in amusement. Despite his petite appearance, the boy was trying to appear tough. Tomohisa chuckled as he slowly inched closer to the boy.

"How are you feeling?" He asked worryingly. "You had quite a fever last night. Do you have any troubles breathing?"

The younger boy frowned. What was did man saying? Why should a stranger concern about his well-being? This had to be a trick! After all, this man was the one who had bought him from that shady group. There's no way he would genuinely worry about him.

Tomohisa waited for the boy to speak up but there was no response from him. He sighed. The only response was the piercing threatening glare. Of course... He had just woken up and he's most likely confused or even panicking.

Before he could utter another word, his cellphone rang making the two jumped as the sudden ring broke their awkward silence. Tomohisa turned to glance at his cellphone on his study desk. Who could be calling early this morning? He took one look at the boy before he headed to the desk to pick up the call.

"Hello?"

" _Good morning, Tomohisa-san."_ came a stern, elderly female voice from the other line. The young master mentally groaned recognizing the caller. _"I apologize for disturbing your sleep though it seems like you're already awake."_

Tomohisa tried to sound composed as always. "Don't worry about it. So, is there anything you need?"

" _Yes. Last night, among the files that you've sent back, we found that there's a miscalculation in one part."_

He raised a brow questioningly. "Miscalculation?" He did go through the files properly, didn't he? "Which one is it? I'll redo it by this afternoon."

While Tomohisa was on the call, the boy was left unguarded on the bed with only one thought in his head. **He has to escape!** His body was still feeling weak but he must escape from here! He was in a stranger's den. He might have been saved from the hands of those people but there's no guarantee that he's safe here!

His eyes quickly scanned around the giant room searching for an escape route. He found the nearest route which was the two large windows on the left side of the bed. He sneaked a peak at Tomohisa who was busy with the call with his back facing the boy. When he was sure that the man was distracted, he cautiously stood up from the bed. He hissed slightly as he felt the numb coming from his muscles. It's probably because he hasn't fully recovered yet. Like he had time to care about that! Right now, escaping was his first priority!

Ignoring his weak body's condition, he quietly staggered towards the windows. Luckily for him, the windows weren't locked so he could effortlessly push them open while being careful not to make any noise. His face went pale a bit as he climbed to the edge of the window and stared outside. He noticed that he was on the second floor of the building.

He also noticed that there were bushes right under the room. If he had landed there, he might survive only with a cramp leg. But, the thought of having to jump down from a building still give him shivers. No! No! He couldn't back down. Suffering from minor injuries was better than remaining in this dangerous place. He had no other choice but this.

Carefully, he set on of his leg over the edge and gulped. He took one deep breathe and clutched his eyes shut; ready to jump.

" **WATCH OUT!"**

Catching off guard by Tomohisa's shout, the boy lost his footing and toppled over the window, instead of jumping out. The time around him stopped as he felt himself falling down. There wasn't anything he could do about it as he braced himself for the hard impact. But, the pain never came.

"Get a hold of yourself!"

His eyes shot opened hearing someone calling out for him. He gasped frighteningly when he found himself dangling from the window. All the little boldness he had just now was gone as he set his eyes at the height he was at.

"Don't move!"

He looked up to see the silver-haired stranger grabbing his hand in a death grip; looking seriously scared. He was too stunned to struggle against his predator's grip. He was too scared to even make a small move.

"Hang in there! I'll pull you up right away!" The stranger tightened his grip on his hand as he yelled this.

The boy grimaced as he stared at the silver-haired man's panicking look. He was dumbfounded and confused by that worrying look from the man.

"Why?" He uttered through his gritted teeth. Why what? Why would a stranger help him? Why would he panic because of this? They were both strangers to each other. There's no need to be concerned for someone you didn't know. "Let go..." He gasped desperately. Suffering from concussion is better than being kept like a toy!

However, the man's grip only tightened. He was taken aback when Tomohisa smiled gently at him. "I won't let go!" He said. "I promise I won't hurt you."

The boy felt uneasy and hesitant at the silver-haired soothing and assuring tone. He was struggling between whether to trust him or not. Alas, he couldn't think straight and could only nod firmly.

Tomohisa grinned and eventually pulled the boy up. As soon as the boy felt his feet on the window's edge, he immediately climbed over inside, toppling both of them in the process. The silver-haired groaned in pain when his head hit floor. This was the second time he landed on the floor in one morning. He wouldn't be surprised if he had slipped and fell again during the day.

"Hey, are you alright?" he called out; glancing over his chest to the boy. He was worried for a moment when he received no reply and sat up to check up on him only to see that he was in deep sleep. Tomohisa huffed and grinned. "Good grief... sleeping again?" Now, he felt relief.

The boy probably passed out from the shock since there were no injuries on his body. He let out a sigh of relief and tiredness; rubbing the back of his neck. He glanced over at his mobile phone that he randomly threw away when he dashed to the boy.

'They didn't hear my shouting, did they?' He thought with a frown. Hopefully, they didn't. Never in his life had he ever run this fast or felt panicking.

"Now, then...what should I do with you, sleepy-head?" he thought staring the peacefully sleeping boy.

* * *

 **At Gandara University**

Kazuna and Kento stood still and stared blankly at their silver-haired friend who had a band aid at the corner of his lip and a seemingly swollen cheek. Said friend greeted them; smiling as usual. "Good morning, Kento, Kazu."

The two men continued to stare blankly at him as if they have no idea where to start asking. Kazuna was the first one to break their silence.

"Tomohisa, that..." He pointed at the silver-haired's cheek. "Is it okay for me to ask how you got that?" He awkwardly asked.

Tomohisa chuckled at his friends' anticipated reactions. "This? How do I put it?" He said thoughtfully. "Let's just say I was sweetly woken up by a fist?"

"You're kidding, right?" murmured Kento.

"Now now, Kento, enough with the blank stare. You're creeping me out." Tomohisa told the blue-haired. "I'm not kidding, really. I was punched early in the morning."

"You're the one creeping us out saying this with that smile of yours! Are you trying to sound sarcastic, Young Master?" Kento retorted back. This wasn't something a person should be laughing about!

Kazuna sweat dropped. "Alright, let's stop right here." He decided to cut off them off they continued their pointless childish teasing. The two took their seats beside their silver-haired friend.

"So, from mentioning that you were awakened by a fist, I'm guessing that it was from the sleeping beauty? Did he finally regain his consciousness?" asked the blue-haired.

Tomohisa nodded. "Yeah. He's just woken up this morning though...he passed out again afterward." ...due to trying to jump off a window...? Probably... He decided not to mention that part to both of them unless the situation made him do so.

"I see. That's good to hear." Kazuna sighed in relief.

"I supposed that he's doing okay since his punch was strong enough to give Tomo a swollen cheek." Kento said with a snicker. "What did you do, Tomo? Were you trying to do something weird to him?" he added teasingly yet suggestively.

Tomohisa's eyes twitched in annoyance. "Enough with the jokes, please. I was the victim of his brutal fist. Obviously, he punched me in self-defense." He pointed out. "Anyone would freak out when they find themselves waking up in a stranger's house...especially in a stranger's bed."

The blue-haired smirked in amusement at this. "Don't sulk like that, Tomo. Your reaction is quite amusing like you anticipated ours to be."

"So, this is revenge then?" asked the silver-haired.

Kento nodded in return. "Pretty much. So, how about explaining us about the boy waking up in a stranger's bed, Kitakado-kun?"

"B-Bed?! Tomohisa, he was sleeping in your bed? With you?" Kazuna stuttered once he caught up with the conversation. The young Kitakado sighed. Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned that part. This was gonna be troublesome.

* * *

 **Back at the Mansion**

The boy groaned and stretched his body slightly as he came back to his senses. He tiredly rubbed his eyes but didn't want to wake up as he tugged the cover over him and snuggled against his comfortable nest a.k.a. the bed.

He was about to drift off to sleep again but immediately bolted up from the bed as soon as realization hit him hard. 'That's right! I almost got myself killed!' And he was saved by the stranger.

His eyes quickly roamed around and he noticed that he was still in the same room that he did when he first woke up. 'It's his room!' But, there was no sign of the silver-haired man.

'Could he have gone out?' Or maybe he was still around. He must be on guard in that case. He shivered slightly when he threw the blanket covering him away and blushed madly when he realized that he was only wearing a single oversized shirt with no pants. 'Urgh...could my life get any worse than this?' No doubt, that stranger was the one responsible for this.

He glanced over to the side and spotted a digital clock. 'It's almost noon?' Was he sleeping for that long? His eyes trailed off from the clock to a tray setting on the side table.

On the tray were a bowl, a spoon, a bottle of water with a cup, some pills and a piece of paper. Ignoring the other things, he curiously picked up the paper and noticed that it was note, most likely from the stranger.

 _I've made some porridge. Be sure to eat it when you wake up. And also, your fever is still slightly high so don't forget to take the pills once you're done eating. Your body is probably still weak so I suggest you to rest for the day. I'll be back by the evening._

 _P.S. If you jump from the window again, I won't be there to help so be a good boy if you want to see another day, okay? :)_

The boy felt his eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he clenched the note. "Is he mocking me?" He hissed under his breath. But, true to the stranger's word. He was feeling quite weak since this morning. Maybe it's better to follow the note's advice for now...if he wanted to preserve enough strength to defend himself that is...

He touched the bowl slightly and found that it was barely warm. Shrugging this away, he picked the tray and moved to a small round table near the bed where he could eat more easily. After settling down in the seat, he stared at the porridge and the pills with suspicious eyes.

'Even though I've decided to eat, I'm not so sure whether it's safe or not...these...' After all, they were from the stranger. His stomach also gave out a small grumble for it had been empty for quite some times. During his capture, he was given nothing but energizing drinks. Now that there's a real meal before him...

While battling between whether he should eat or not, he eventually gave in to his hunger. 'I'll just punch him later if he put anything weird in this...Ittadakimasu.'

He took the first sip of the porridge and sighed in satisfaction. 'The rice's a bit rough but the taste is...not so bad, I guess...' He grumbled as he continued to finish his meal. After finishing the porridge, he took the pills just as the note said only because he recognized the pill's appearance from the one he used to take when he was sick.

'Now, what should I do?' He thought after gulping down the medicine with some water. Should he run away? Even if he did, he couldn't have gone anywhere far in his current condition. And plus...he didn't really feel like going outside wearing nothing but this big shirt.

He sighed; feeling an upcoming headache. 'Maybe I really should rest...' But, he didn't want to lie back down right after he has just done so for who knows how long. It felt like forever for him. He glanced at the empty bowl with a thoughtful look.

'That guy...just what does he want treating me like this?' His trust? Submission? Or just naïvely wanting to help? He scoffed at the last one. 'Like that could happen...'

There's no way that would ever happen. In this world, there's no such simply kind person like him and he had learned it the hard way from his parents. His heart ached at the thought of how he had been betrayed by his family, especially his mother. How could she have done that? Even now, he still couldn't even make up any reasonable reasons other than her not wanting him the same way his father did.

The thought hurt him more than anything yet at the same time, he had another feeling mixed into that pain when he realized his situation. He couldn't put into words what it was but...

"It feels so warm..." He murmured to himself, clenching his chest. It was the same feeling that he has when he was younger...when everything was like a dream.

" _...I'll make you into a princess, Ryu-chan."_

" _...I promise I won't hurt you."_

His face's flushed pink at the last one. 'Why does he have to pop into my head?' In the first place, why did he even trust a stranger? Oh right. It was because of his flashy, gentle smile. 'Gentle?' Why was he acting kindly like that? The only genuine gentle smile that he had last seen was from his mother and his friend; Yuta. It ticked him off even more when he realized that the smile was reason why he fluttered.

'The smile of a Prince...' He remembered from his favorite picture book. The stranger's smile was like that of the one the Prince offered to the Princess. 'I ain't a Princess!' He fumed. Now, wanting to rest was the last thing he wanted to do.

He stood up and picked up the tray. 'I'm gonna roam around a bit if you don't mind.' He smirked at the note that told him to rest. 'I've rest plenty enough and I don't think I can run away, too.' He better have a **peaceful** talk with the stranger once he got back. 'Do anything weird and he's dead!' He remarked before he left the room with the tray in his hand.

Looking around, he turned to the left corridor. 'Probably...this way?' He thought as he walked through the quiet hall. He could see the stairs leading downstairs when he reached the end of the hall. 'This guy must definitely be a pampered young master living in a big mansion.' He wasn't shocked to suddenly have woken up in a manor since he used to live in one, too...though this one was a bit smaller than his...family's.

'It's too quiet.' He thought when he reached downstairs. The place was practical empty. He concluded that there was no one other than him in the mansion since he encountered no one on his way or even here. He already braced himself if he were to be found by any chance.

'Living alone?' Heh...saves the problem of him having to deal with any other people who might live here. 'Now...where the hell is the kitchen?' Was it the right side or left side of the building?

He randomly chose the right side and walked through the empty hall, looking for the kitchen to place the empty bowl away. 'It's not like I want to do this...' He protested to no one. He just wanted to move around for a bit instead of lying on the bed doing nothing. Yes. That was his excuse.

He casually checked through every door in the corridor till he reached the last double door at the end of the corridor. 'Hope this one leads to the kitchen...' He thought with a sigh. Walking around with a single shirt was starting to make him feel chilling. He wanted to finish what he was gonna do and return to bed now. Yes. He has changed his mind.

"Excuse my intrusion..." He murmured, pushing the door and peeked inside. Good, it was the kitchen...

"WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?!"

* * *

 **With Tomohisa and the others**

It was lunch break and most of the students were at the cafeteria while some were outside minding their own business. Tomohisa was in the cafeteria, sitting on a table with Kazuna and Kento who was laughing.

"Seriously, Tomo-hahahaha, You blew the kitchen up? Hahahaha." Kento managed to say in between his laughs.

The silver-haired sighed. "Not literally, Kento. I only messed up a bit...Though I have to admit that the kitchen is quite a mess now..." He muttered the last part quietly to himself but the blue-haired was able to pick it up as he continued laughing.

Tomohisa gave up on stopping his friend and turned to look at the blonde beside him. "Kazu, I don't mind if you want to laugh..."

Kazuna blinked and shook his head. "Of course not. I think it's a miracle that you are able to cook something in the end despite the mess you made."

"...Is that a compliment?"

"A huge compliment it is." The blonde replied. "And Kento, you'll tire yourself if you don't stop laughing soon."

Kento clamped his mouth with his hand. "Alright. Alright. Still...the thought of Tomo cooking..."

Tomohisa sweat dropped. "...I just hope that he wouldn't try to es-...run away again with his condition like that."

"We can't tell that he won't. From the bruise that he's given you, it seems like he's not as weak as he looks." Kazuna pointed out.

The silver-haired let out a long sigh as he face palmed. It really was a risk leaving him alone when he regained his consciousness. 'I did warn him the consequences of the repeated stunt...I'm sure he's not that... reckless...'

He shuddered at the thought of falling from the two storied building. Silently, he mentally prayed the boy would follow his note or remain sleeping till he got back.

'...He looks troubled...' thought his two friends; Kento in amusingly and Kazuna worryingly.

Before they could continue their conversation, they were interrupted by a brown haired man; with a pair of glasses, and a red-haired man with different eye color; red on the right and another, blue.

"Sorry that we took so long. The line was quite full today." said the brown haired man with an apologetic smile, setting his food down. "The other guys are still waiting for their cue." He added pointing at the long line at the food reception.

"Wow...Good thing that we finished class earlier." Kento murmured in relief.

"Welcome back, Mika, Momo." Kazuna greeted the two men.

Tomohisa nodded in agreement as he glanced at their other friends who were waiting for their turns at the waiting line.

"Kitakado." The silver-haired turned to see a black-haired man who called out to him. "What is it, Goushi?"

Goushi nudged towards the table slightly across from theirs. "She's been staring at you for a while now. You acquaintance?"

The silver-haired's eyes followed his friend's direction and landed on a particular brunette. He frowned. "Tsubasa..." He muttered under his breath. The mentioned person flinched when their eyes met, making her fidgeting nervously. 'Indeed she's staring at me."

The other guys at the table also took a notice of this. "Isn't that Sumisora-san?" Mikado pointed out. Kento and Kazuna were alarmed by this. 'Again?!'

"She looks like she wants to talk with you." Momotaro said, glancing at Tomohisa.

"I believe we have nothing to discuss about. It must have been your imagination, Momo." the silver-haired retorted back; averting his eyes from the female brunette. Momotaro only huffed in response.

Goushi raised a brown as he stared back and forth between his friends and the brunette. 'Am I the only one who doesn't know what the heck is going on?'

He was approached by Akane who patted his back. "Don't worry, Kaneshiro. We're on the same boat." He said with a thumbs-up implying that he too was clueless.

Kento rubbed his temple with a sigh. 'Lately, this has been happening quite a lot...'

'No doubt...Sumisora-san...about Tomohisa...' Kazuna shook his head tiredly. Mikado and Momotaro only stared at each other without saying anything.

Noticing the tension that he caused, Tomohisa tried to lighten the mood a bit. "Sorry about that. Ah, here comes the other. Let's finish our lunch before class starts again." He said pointing at their remaining friends who were walking over to them.

Not wanting to push this deeper, Mikado and Momotaro nodded in agreement and sat down followed with Akane and Goushi. After the rest of the friends joined the group, they all had their lunch, chattering merrily with each other while trying not to bring up what has happened to the latter friends.

After finishing their lunch, they all returned to their respective classes while chattering about their assignments and workloads. Despite their busy schedules, the cheerful green-haired man among the group suggested that they'd hang out somewhere this weekend; for stress relief as he put it.

"Sorry, Hikaru. I might not be able to join if it's this week. I really can't take my time off." Tomohisa refused apologetically. _In addition to work, I have extra person to take care of..._

The green-haired was a bit dejected but nodded in understanding with his childhood friend patting his back. Tomohisa was glad that his friends were quite considerate. He really wished he could be as carefree as Hikaru or Akane but he knew it might be impossible for his workload much more intense than his friends. Plus... there's the engagement, too...

Noticing the silver-haired sighed triedly, Kento playfully slapped his back as they continued on their way. "Cheer up, Tomo. You've always tried your best but you don't need to be that serious around us." He said with a wink; attempting to brighten the man a bit.

Tomohisa chuckled. "Thanks, Kento." It was mostly because of Kazuna and Kento; who's the closet to him and always having his back, that he was able to maintain the way he lives now. Speaking of which...

"Ne, Kento, Kazu." He called. "Do you guys have any free times after class? I'll need you two to accompany me for a bit." He continued with a smile when the two gave him a questioning look.

* * *

 **That Evening...**

Tomohisa returned back to his place after he dragged Kazuna and Kento along with him to the mall to buy some clothes for the boy. There's no way he would let the young lad keep wearing nothing but his oversized shirt. He held up the bag that contained the clothes that he had bought with the help of his friends.

'For now, I guess they'll do...at least he will have something to wear,' thought Tomohisa before entering the house. After taking off his shoes and slipping on the slippers, he directly headed to his bedroom.

Again, he stood in front of his door nervously and knocked. He expected an answer, but none came. 'Don't tell me he's still asleep...' He thought and turned on the knob; gently creaking the door opened and peeking into the room.

'Wait!' He immediately barged into the room when he realized there's no one inside. With panic eyes, he scanned the entire bedroom again but found no trace of the boy. 'Could he have escaped again?'

He shuddered slightly at the picture of how the boy would walk through the streets and collapse from exhaustion and fever. He immediately discarded his exaggerated imagination. 'I should calm down first... there's no way he could have left...'

Why? Cuz he made sure to lock all the main doors and exit before he left the house and the window wasn't opened either. So the boy shouldn't have climbed down from there again. He also noticed that the tray that he left this morning wasn't in the room either.

He huffed and ruffled his hair before taking off his jacket and placed it on the couch along with the shopping bag and his bag. Then, he walked out his room to look for the supposedly missing boy. 'I better make sure he's in here before making a big deal out of this. Now...where could he be?'

There's no way he could simply check through all the rooms in the entire mansion. He'd be tire out before he could even find the boy. He tried thinking for a while before he came to conclusion of where he might be. 'No way...'

Quickly, he headed downstairs to where he had messed up in the morning. 'Not the kitchen, is it?' That place's a disaster after he finished cooking and he didn't even clean up the mess from yesterday yet! He could already imagine the horrified face that one would make when one enters the 'slightly' messy kitchen.

He braced himself and slowly pushed the door open. Much to his relief and big shock, he was greeted with a bright clear already cleaned kitchen instead of the morning battlefield lookalike one. His mouth hung opened as he looked around the now-cleaned kitchen. Even all the cooking equipment he used was arranged neatly in place. His eyes landed on a body, slumping down on the counter of the room.

'So, he cleaned up the mess...' Tomohisa thought as he walked over to the boy only to see that he was again in his peaceful slumber. The man chuckled slightly at this and patted the boy's head gently. "It seems like you take quite sometimes cleaning up my mess." He felt bad for making a frail; plus sick person do the cleaning.

"Thank you and I'm sorry."

* * *

 **Looking around, he found himself surrounded with nothing but darkness. Feeling a small shiver, he hugged his knees and buried his face in them. 'Cold...' he thought as he tightened his grip to warm himself up. This tightening feeling that was swelling up his chest, this agony feeling... He was very much familiar with this.**

" **Mommy! Daddy!"**

 **Hearing a child's voice, he looked up to see a family of three sitting on a couch in the living room. They looked like they're having fun as the father laughed at how the child talked and the mother smiling. He stared blackly at the child. It was his older sister when she's younger. Like he could ever forget that arrogant sassy face...however, she was more pure and innocent at that age.**

 **He noticed a silhouette figure sitting on a nearby couch beside the family. It was a boy. It was a younger version of him; reading a book and losing in his own world. Surely, he was ignored by his family since they were paying no mind to him.**

' **Give me a break...I'm not even allowed to have a joyful dream?'**

 **He continued to watch the unfolded scene quietly and calmly as if he had already been used to this. However, his composure was shaken slightly when he saw his parents standing and preparing to walk away with his sisters, leaving his younger self behind.**

" **No..wait..." He quickly pushed himself up and chased after them, but it was no use. No matter how he screamed or shouted, they continued to walk away without turning back.**

" **Please..." he turned to look at the little boy, who was sitting on the couch by himself, unaware of his family's disappearance. "Don't leave him yet... not yet..."**

 **He stuttered in fear. "A little longer..." Tears spilled from his eyes as fear of loneliness and being abandoned overwhelmed him. "Just a little longer...please let me be with you guys..." He weakly cried as he watched his family disappeared.**

 **More tears appeared and he quickly wiped it out while trying to restrain from crying more than he already was. But, he couldn't stop himself from sobbing as his shoulders shook. He gasped when a pair of arms gentle wrapped around him from behind.**

' **Who-?'**

 **He turned to see who it was but he couldn't make out their face hidden behind their bangs. A gentle smile...**

" **It's ok. It'll be ok. I promise." The person whispered softly.**

 **Placing his hands on the person's arms, he sniffled. It felt warm...very warm. He wanted to stay that way for a while. Even if it's just a dream, he wanted to be embraced by this warmness despite it was from someone he didn't know...**

* * *

His eye lids fluttered at the light that painfully hit him; awoken him from his dream. He felt a hand on his forehead, and a mutter.

"Good. His fever's finally dropping."

The younger boy moaned softly in complaint. He was having a nice dream, too... What a waste.

"Oh, you're awake?" He wasn't quite waking up yet since his vision was still blurry. All he could make out was a figure sitting on the bed side beside him...and the light surrounding the room. Where was this place again?

"I made some honey milk for you. Drink it when you're properly awaken, okay?"

Still not fully functioned, he nodded. He could feel the stranger stood up from the bed, probably head off to do whatever he needs to. The sweet aroma of the drink beside the bed hit his nose.

'Honey huh...' Something hit him and within one second, a mind map was drawn. Homey milk...He made it...He went into the kitchen.

"The KITCHEN!" He exclaimed, bolting up from the bed and quickly grabbed the older man by his shirt. "YOU WENT INTO THE KITCHEN?DON'T TELL ME THAT YOU LEAVE A MESS IN THERE? WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?JUST HOW LONG DO YOU THINK IT TOOK ME TO CLEAN UP THAT ROOM?" He rambled, finally ridden off his sleepiness.

Tomohisa was startled when he was suddenly grabbed and he could only stare blankly as the boy shouted at thin.

"So...are you fully awake now, sleepy head?" He asked in a teasing manner after the boy finished his lecture and was now directing a glare at him.

The boy let go of him and crossed his arms. "Very much...thank you."

The silver-haired noticed that the boy was ready to punch him anytime in defense so it's better not to provoke him. 'I'll never hear the end of this from Kento if another bruise is added to this...' He thought wearily.

He picked up the hot beverage and held it in front of the younger one. "Here. You should drink it while it's still warm." He said with a smile.

The boy eyed him carefully; still glaring silently waiting for the question asked before. Tomohisa blinked questioningly for a while before he got the message.

"If it's about the kitchen, you don't need to worry." He assured. "I've never made a mess while making drinks. In fact, I've always brew myself some coffee even though I rarely cook."

The latter raised a brow at the last sentence. 'No wonder he literally blew up the kitchen...' He gave another glance at the drink offered to him. 'Most likely safe...' He thought before accepting the drink and took a sip. 'It's sweet...'

"What's your name?" He looked at the silver-haired man blankly, not wanting to answer.

The man seemed to notice his silence. "It's better to be called by name, isn't it? Using just 'YOU, YOU' is kinda weird."

While the man's reason was on point, he still thought that there's no need for that sort of thing. "What do you want?"

Tomohisa was surprised when he was asked this. No...he shouldn't be surprised. After all, this is also one of the reasons this boy...along with several others were put through this situation.

"Well...for now, there isn't anything I want." He replied, his eyes glancing downward. "If I say that, would you believe me?"

"The answer's obvious."

An immediate reply. He chuckled. "Of course. But, believe it or not...My answer is true. There's nothing I want. I just did it on a whim that night when I saw you."

"How many?"

He turned to the boy. "How many did you pay for me?"

"Well..." He scratched his cheek. "Around...2 billion?" He grinned cheekily.

"All the more reasons why I shouldn't trust you!" The boy growled in irritation making Tomohisa flinched. "Who in the right mind would spend that much money on someone you hardly know? And for the auction? How about saving up those money for emergency cases or even for your retirement?!"

The boy went on and on, almost switching to scolding mode. "There's no hell way anyone would have spent 2 billion on a biding like me unless they are per-..."

The silver-haired tilted his head to the side when the boy's face flushed red for a moment. "Per?"

"Per-..." The younger boy stuttered before he blurted out mindlessly. "PERVERTS WHO HAVE A TASTE FOR LITTLE BOYS!"

...

Tomohisa could see that the younger one's face has become beet red while trying to phrase this without using any embarrassing words.

"Pfft! Pervert huh? This is the first time someone has ever called me that." He laughed lightly. "Do I look like a pervert to you?"

..."No..." It was supposed to be a joke but the respond that he got was unexpected. "You don't look like one..." The boy murmured.

"...but still...I..." The boy trembled for a moment while gripping the cup in his hands tightly. "...I can't bring myself to trust anyone...not anymore..."

The silver-haired could guess why. Clearing his throat, he sat down on the bed side. "I'm not sure if I'm a pervert or not...but maybe you're right." He grinned. "I might not be in the right mind when I shouted out my bidding that night. Honestly, I didn't even know what to do when I was on my way back...But, I also couldn't bring myself to leave someone who's calling out for help."

"I **WAS NOT** calling out for help!" The boy argued; his cheek flushing red.

Tomohisa blinked before he replied with a playful smile. "Yes, you were."

"No, I wasn't!"

"Yes, you were."

"No, I wasn't!" Their face drew closer to each other as they continued with that.

"Yes, you were."

"No, I wasn't!"

"Yes, you were."

"No, I was not!" The boy shouted; almost pouncing at the older man in irritation.

The silver-haired leaned forward a bit and playfully flicked the younger one's forehead. "Yes, you were."

He chuckled when he was responded with a silent glare. "My win."

The boy pouted and looked way. "Fine...what a weirdo..." He grumbled. He definitely was a strange man. The boy didn't let his guard down yet, but he trusted the man's word for now...because this part of the stranger kinda reminded him of his best friend...a tease, a weirdo and very annoying!

"If what you mean is true...then...Thank you...for saving me..." He murmured under his breath without looking at the man. Tomohisa smiled. The boy blushed even harder. This flashy smile...one that reminded him of a prince from the fairy tale.

"You're welcome. So, what are you going to do next? Do you want to go back to your family?" The boy's shoulders stiffened.

"Do you want to contact them?"

"No!" Tomohisa blinked as he stared at the boy with surprised eyes. He's safe now, wasn't he? Wouldn't he have wanted his parents to know that at least? He couldn't help but asking curiously. "Why?"

He watched as the younger boy's face scrunched slightly as he bit his lower lip hard; hands tightening on the cup. "I..." His voice cracked while he's struggling not to cry. "...I don't have any family...not anymore..."

The older man tensed recalling a few words that Kento had told him on the night of the auction event.

" _ **Teenagers like that kid...sold by their family...in exchange for money..."**_

Tomohisa had wanted to slap himself for being insensitive. "I'm sorry...I hit where it hurts the most..." He told the boy.

The younger one shook his head. "It's okay. It doesn't matter anymore." HE swallowed down all of his sobs in one gulp. "I have to move on. I'm leaving them behind as they did to me." He smiled to himself.

"I...understand..." Tomohisa responded. "...So...what are you going to do next?"

There was a short moment of silence after that. The boy must have been thinking what he was supposed to and should do. Tomohisa wasn't going to mind what the boy was going to do. At first, that was his thought...

"The money..." The boy started. "I'll pay you back...somehow."

"Eh? You really don't need to..."

"I will pay you back!" He repeated looking at the man in his eyes. "I don't want to owe anything to anyone! I'm not sure how, but I will definitely find some way!"

Tomohisa raised a brow. "For example?"

"Well...like...looking for some work...and stuffs?" the boy replied while fidgeting.

"Where?"

"...I don't know yet..." Alright...The silver-haired didn't like where this was going. Be it his exaggerate imagination or not, he could definitely see the picture of this boy walking aimlessly around the back alley. He got cold sweat from that.

"In that case, I have an offer for you." He said right after quickly thinking of what he could do to solve this.

The boy blinked curiously at this. "An offer?"

Tomohisa nodded. "Yup. Unfortunately, I can't let you go roaming around aimlessly." He said. "So, my offer is for you to stay here in this mansion with me."

The younger boy immediately frowned. "I knew it, you-"

"And taking care of the house chores for me!" Tomohisa continued before he could finish his sentence. The boy was left confused.

"Huh?"

The older man rubbed the back of his neck. "As you can see from this morning, I'm quite hopeless when it comes to cooking. I would really appreciate if there's someone to clean or cook for me."

"Why don't you just hire a maid instead, Young Master?" the boy replied, deadpanned.

"...I..." Tomohisa averted his gaze from the boy. "I can do that but...well... you can say that I don't want to bother the main house much."

"To sum up, I'm repaying you by being your housemaid?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Pretty much. At least you have something to do ere now rather than going outside looking for works. Plus, you won't be lonely here."

"Staying in a big mansion all day long while working? It's occupied but that is what I call being lonely..." The boy grumbled making Tomohisa laughed.

"At least there's someone coming home other than you."

"...Will my job be including satisfying you, too, Young Master? And I meant sexually."

The older man's face flushed deep red. "Of course not! I'm not interested in this field!" He flustered while covering his face to hide his embarrassment.

The boy smirked in amusement as his mischievous side surfaced a little. "Heh? You're not?" He asked teasingly. "That's surprise coming from some young master who has already reached his puberty. Don't tell me you're still a virgin?"

His answer was a more beet red face Tomohisa who was flustering. "Oh, so you are."

"Stop it, you..." Tomohisa told him, still embarrassed. "Really, where in the world did you learn to use these words?"

The younger boy shrugged. "I'm a healthy seventeen-year-old, sir."

Tomohisa sighed. Teenagers nowadays... He shook his head.

Seeing him like that, the boy asked. "Having second thoughts about your offer?"

"No." Immediate reply from Tomohisa. "Will you accept?" He asked, hoping for a positive answer.

The boy huffed and nodded. "Seeing the mess that I had to clean up this morning and imagining that the same mess would be made...I'm not saying no." The silver-haired brightened up at this. "But..." The boy hold his hand up. "Under one condition. One wrong move from you and I'll beat up!"

Tomohisa gulped remembering the pain from the morning. "Very well..." The boy wouldn't let his guard down no matter what...and it was for his own safety. "My name is Tomohisa by the way, Kitakado Tomohisa."

The boy stared silently at him. "My name is Ryuji."

He left out his family name and the silver-haired didn't bother to ask, knowing why. "I'll be in your care from now, Ryuji. Nice to meet you." Tomohisa said while playfully ruffling Ryuji's hair.

"He-Hey! Knock it off! Don't get too familiar with!" Ryuji growled while trying to stop Tomohisa from messing with his hair.

From today one, this would temporary be his house, under the contract between him and this weird princely stranger.

* * *

 **I finally have the time to write...but the time is really limited for me...TwT but I'm still glad I was able to upload this chapter. Although this ending went off the track from what I've planned, I'm still satisfied with this. Plus, I was really overjoyed when I heard announcement of B-Pro's 2nd season! I hope I'll get to see more TomoxRyuji moment / Thanks for reading and see you in next chapter.**


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